


quite slow to pay you compliments

by sunflours



Category: X1 (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Fluff and Humor, I've forgotten how to tag, M/M, Mutual Pining, dohyon and hangyul are actually brothers, everything could be solved with communication, hangyul and jaehyun are also brothers, i don't think it's slow enough for slow burn, kind of, maknae line are barely in it ㅠㅠ, medium burn?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-02-23 03:23:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 26,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23938291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflours/pseuds/sunflours
Summary: Hangyul doesn't know that when he hires Woodz to write a track for an upcoming dance competition he wants to choreograph for, he's hiring his childhood nemesis.
Relationships: Cho Seungyeon | Seungyoun/Lee Hangyul, background Han Seungwoo/Kim Yohan, brief Wooseok/Jinhyuk
Comments: 18
Kudos: 82





	quite slow to pay you compliments

**Author's Note:**

> title from 'cold cold man' by saintmotel!
> 
> g o d why is this so long 
> 
> this is based loosely off the k-drama 'people with flaws'.

Nothing good ever really happens on a Wednesday.

He spends most of the day in his older brother’s coffee-shop, for once blessedly ahead of his final essays, but staring at a playlist with no songs that felt  _ right _ for the choreography he had in mind. He sends a particularly stressed text to Jinhyuk, his old university mentor, and the taller man drops by pretty quickly, having been in the area. 

‘I know a really good producer.’ Jinhyuk says after some thought. ‘I can send you some of his stuff, give you his number, and you could probably get some original songs? If you say you know me, I’m sure he’d do it for free.’

‘Free,’ Hangyul repeats doubtfully and Jinhyuk smiles a shark-like grin. 

‘Seriously,’ Jinhyuk says. ‘Free. He’s my friend, but my boyfriend is also terrifying.’

Jinhyuk scribbles down a number on the napkin in front of him, pulls up a Spotify page and runs off fairly soon after that, citing a lunch date with the aforementioned boyfriend as his excuse. Hangyul waves him off and put his headphones in, idly going through the producer’s work. 

There’s really good stuff, ranging from light and airy to dark and pulsating, but Hangyul can see the puzzle pieces fall into place, the choreography and formations for the dance forming whenever he closes his eyes. So it’s hours later, and Hangyul feels a certain sense of trust in this music producer, and along with Jinhyuk’s glowing recommendation, he’s confident in texting the man for a commission.

‘Woodz,’ Hangyul mutters under his breath as he texts. 

He gets a reply almost immediately. The two arrange a meeting for the following day, and Hangyul nearly fell off his chair as he slumped back in relief. When it hits two-thirty, he sidles up to the counter, begs his older brother for a free pastry and leaves to go teach the dance club at Swing Academy. Yohan had managed to talk him into skipping their usual revision at the university library- _ ‘it’s the end of term this week, Hangyul-ah, we should relax!’ _ \- and to go to their high-school reunion; someone had managed to book out a barbecue place for the whole night, and had opened it up to everyone who was attending their school in a certain year, as opposed to it being only for their school year, in order to guarantee enough people came to win back the deposit on the barbecue place. 

‘It’ll be fun.’ Yohan had said. Hangyul’s not so sure.

But regardless, Hangyul lets Yohan drag him to the reunion straight after work, because free food is a brilliant idea when you’re struggling university students. They promptly sit down and begin to devour through the food- it’s an all-you-can-eat place, and they only have the restaurant for three hours. Halfway through their sixth portion, Yohan whacks Hangyul in the side, making him choke on his wrap. 

‘That’s my sunbae,’ Yohan hisses. 

‘A lot of people here are our sunbaes,’ Hangyul says idly as he dips two pieces of meat in the ssamjang and eats, barely sparing a glance at the three men entering. He saw three men making a very dramatic entrance: two tall, one short- probably shorter than himself- but their faces hidden in the poor lighting of the restaurant. It would be a miracle for Yohan to correctly identify them, and it would take another one to drag Hangyul’s attention away from the food in front of him. 

‘My sports sunbae,’ Yohan clarifies. 

‘Great,’ Hangyul says, ignoring that. ‘Eat up.’

‘I wonder why they’re so late,’ Yohan muses as he fiddles with his chopsticks, waiting for the rest of the meat to cook. Hangyul takes another look at the three men and rolls his eyes at the gaggle of girls and boys flocking around them as the owner directs them to one of the central tables. There’s an aura to them, sure, but they’re all wearing fashionable clothes, caps and masks. It isn’t difficult to create an intimidating aura with those clothing items. 

‘I should greet him,’ Yohan says with a pout, and Hangyul quickly appraises Yohan with a judging look. Yohan had always been a stickler for manners, always had been since he was a small child because of his father being his coach, and whilst Hangyul himself was too, he wasn’t exactly comfortable talking to anyone at the reunion. The only true friend he had ended school with was Yohan, despite Hangyul being a social butterfly, and besides- his mind was still on the food in front of him. 

‘Sure,’ Hangyul concedes after chewing his food. ‘Do you want to do it at the end? There’s a lot of people hanging around at the table, I doubt you’d be able to get through them all.’

‘Smart,’ Yohan says. ‘Yah, that’s mine-’

At around the two hour fifty minute mark, Yohan starts squirming again. 

‘You’re free to go up yourself,’ Hangyul says. ‘He’s not my sports sunbae, it’s awkward if I go greet him-’

‘That’s President Han,’ Yohan blurts. 

And Hangyul is suddenly greeted with all the memories of Yohan dragging him to sports clubs in order to see Han Seungwoo, president of the Athletics society, and indulge Yohan’s crush. 

‘Ah,’ Hangyul says. 

‘Ah,’ Yohan repeats and Hangyul nods, accepting his fate as wingman. 

‘Extreme deja vu,’ Hangyul mutters under his breath, and Yohan doesn’t hear it in his nerves. 

The two get up from their table, and Hangyul’s pretty full so he’s happy with leaving. The walk to the central table isn’t long, but a lot of people do fix their eyes on the two, who look like they're the first to leave. They make it to the table, and Yohan drops into a ninety degree bow, his forehead nearly hitting the table, as he barks, ‘Hello, President Han!’

Hangyul looks at Yohan in horror at his excessive politeness, before catching Han Seungwoo’s eyes and dropping into a more moderate bow himself. His gaze slides over the rest of the table quickly, just checking who’s there: he remembers Kim Wooseok- how could he forget Kim Wooseok- and a man who’s turned away at the moment, but nevertheless, Hangyul feels his blood freeze as he recognises the nape of his neck.  _ This is a new low, even for you, _ he tells himself.

‘Hello,’ Hangyul says softly in greeting, fixing his gaze resolutely on the floor.

‘Oh,’ Seungwoo says, flustered. ‘No, you don’t need to bow, I’m not your president anymore-’

‘I don’t know if you remember me,’ Yohan continues, bulldozing on and Hangyul closes his eyes in embarrassment, ‘I’m-’

‘Kim Yohan,’ Seungwoo interrupts amusedly. ‘I watched the Olympics, you know.’

Hangyul can feel Yohan vibrating with excitement. He elbows Yohan, who snaps back up and can’t meet Seungwoo’s gaze, flushing bright red. 

‘I wanted to say hi,’ Yohan says. 

‘Yes,’ Seungwoo replies. He scratches the back of his neck. 

‘You’ve done that,’ says a lilting voice, and Hangyul resolutely does not turn to look at the owner of that oh-so-familiar voice, and absolutely does not let his face do as much as twitch at the sound. 

He does, however, check on Yohan; his best friend appears to be grasping for a conversation starter in his mind, desperate to keep talking to his old high-school crush, and Hangyul feels the need to help.

‘Yohan wanted to thank you,’ Hangyul says smoothly. ‘You were a big inspiration to him in high school.’

‘Yes!’ Yohan cries. ‘Yes, you- you really were. Very much. I was so inspired.’

‘Really?’ Seungwoo asks surprisedly. There’s a pleased smile playing at the corners of his lips. ‘I thought you were inspiring, actually. I remember you being so dedicated to sports, so seeing you compete in the Olympics was really cool.’

‘Seungwoo-hyung watched it on TV,’ adds Wooseok. ‘You two should sit down, it’s been a long time since we’ve talked.’

He finishes the sentence with a piercing gaze at Hangyul, and Yohan doesn’t even notice any discrepancies (mostly being that Hangyul had never ever talked to Kim Wooseok in front of Yohan in their entire student life). Hangyul opens his mouth to protest, eager to prevent whatever past will be brought up, but Yohan sits down at the command. Hangyul raises an eyebrow and gingerly sits down, still avoiding the burning gaze of the third man.

‘So are you a full-time athlete, Yohannie?’ Seungwoo asks and Yohan shakes his head.

‘Hangyul and I go to university together,’ Yohan explains. ‘I study Social Physical Education, but I’m on a sports scholarship so I’m on the national taekwondo team. What about you, Seungwoo-ssi?’

‘Hyung,’ Seungwoo says with a smile. ‘Yohannie, you should call me hyung.’

‘Seungwoo-hyung,’ Yohan squeaks faintly and Seungwoo smiles even brighter.

‘Not as glamorous as you. I’m a personal trainer.’

Wooseok snorts. ‘He’s selling himself short. He’s a UFC fighter, and owns the gym as well.’

‘And what do you do, Hangyullie?’ says  _ that _ voice, sing-songy and dangerous, and Hangyul drags his gaze to meet Cho Seungyoun’s. 

‘I’m majoring in dance, minoring in production.’ Hangyul replies with a clenched jaw. There’s a few beats of silence before Yohan laughs nervously, having sensed the tension between the two.

‘He’s also the sports and dance coach at Swing Academy. Sorry,’ Yohan adds, looking shyly to Seungyoun, ‘I don’t actually remember you? I’m really sorry if we’ve already met.’

‘Who am I?’ Seungyoun says idly, and Hangyul narrows his eyes. 

So here he is, kind of wanting to run away and crawl into a hole, cheeks flushing, hands shaking from nerves-rage-shock-fear, thinking about how his life is a bad coming-of-age film, as Cho Seungyoun holds his gaze to Hangyul and leans forward with a smug grin.

‘I’m Hangyulie’s first love.’

‘You owe me so many drinks,’ Hangyul mutters to Yohan, as the ahjumma of the barbeque begins to shout, kicking everyone out at the end of the three hours. He had taken her shouts as an excuse to shoot out of his seat and head outside, desperately seeking the shock of the cold air and wishing that he had indulged himself in shots beforehand. 

He just shifts his weight between his feet idly when they’re outside, watching Yohan awkwardly flirt with Seungwoo, decidedly avoiding looking at anyone other than Yohan. Seungyoun had looked much too smug, all cocky and dimples and blond highlights and leather jacket, and he would rather get over his embarrassment before he reacted in a way he would later regret. 

He watches as Yohan’s shoulders raise in excitement and he turns around, meeting Hangyul’s blank stare with a giddy one, practically skipping over. 

‘So many drinks.’ Hangyul repeats, and Yohan waves his hand.

‘Absolutely.’ He stares off into the distance, his eyes glazed over with affection before they turn to hard steel. ‘Hangyul, you didn’t tell me you had a thing with Cho Seungyoun.’ 

‘Nothing to say,’ Hangyul says smoothly. Yohan narrows his eyes, and Hangyul knows that Yohan’s spotted his tells when he lies, but his friend is kind enough to let it slide for now. 

‘It’s okay,’ Hangyul adds. ‘I won’t see him again for ages.’

♡♡♡♡

Hangyul’s in his brother’s coffee-shop again the next day, and he thinks  _ you have got to be kidding me _ as Seungyoun sits down at his table. 

He immediately looks away, catching the eye of his older brother who does look a little concerned for Hangyul’s sudden flush, and he bites his lip as he pulls at his phone, quickly reading through his conversation with Woodz. It had been five minutes since they agreed to meet, and he hadn’t gotten a text alerting him that the producer was running late. 

‘Seriously?’ Seungyoun asks incredulously. ‘Hangyul, it’s me.’

‘Yes, hello Seungyoun-ssi, I’m actually waiting for someone?’

‘Woodz,’ Jaehyun calls out with a raised eyebrow and Seungyoun goes to collect his coffee with a smirk. Hangyul feels the blood drain from his face as he reads Woodz’ last text-  _ i’ll be wearing a pink jacket and baggy jeans! _ \- and appraises Seungyoun’s clothes, despairing at the match. 

‘I’m a good person,’ Hangyul says to himself quietly. ‘I pay my taxes. I don’t deserve this.’

‘Sure you don’t,’ Seungyoun says, catching Hangyul’s muttering and sitting back down. He takes a long, long sip from his iced coffee and lets out a relieved sigh. 

‘I’m glad you wanted to meet at this coffee-shop, because this barista makes the best coffee.’ Seungyoun says. With a smirk, he adds, ‘He’s pretty, too.’

‘Tell him yourself.’ Hangyul snaps. 

‘Whoa,’ Seungyoun says, eyes wide in fake surprise. ‘Sorry. Didn’t know you’d get jealous.’

He grins cheekily around the straw in his mouth, and Hangyul rolls his eyes with a clenched jaw. 

‘Not jealous.’ Hangyul says slowly. It’s true- it's not jealousy, it’s more irritation; he has two gorgeous older siblings, and he’s sick of acting as the messenger for their admirers. Having Seungyoun skirt near that, especially with their history…

‘Sure, Hangyulie,’ Seungyoun says. It’s said with such a bland tone that Hangyul bristles in annoyance.

‘Why are you here?’ he asks bluntly, and Seungyoun’s grin grows even wider. 

‘Well, we arranged to meet up today, no? That’s why you’re here waiting for me.’

‘I gave you my name in the texts.’ Hangyul points out, and Seungyoun’s smile falters a bit. 

‘There’s many Hangyul’s in the world,’ Seungyoun retorts. ‘I didn’t know that the Hangyul that was potentially commissioning me for a few songs would be the Hangyul that-’

‘Okay,’ Hangyul says loudly, cutting Seungyoun off. He doesn’t want to hear the rest of that sentence. It’s at that moment that Jaehyun swings by, placing a large cup of coffee with whipped cream and bits of biscuit crumbled on top. 

‘Tell me if it’s good,’ Jaehyun says. ‘Is everything okay?’

‘Yeah, everything’s okay, hyung,’ Hangyul says. ‘What’s this?’

‘Potential new addition to the menu- dalgona coffee with real dalgona. You look pissed off.’

‘Everything’s fine,’ Hangyul repeats. Jaehyun nods slowly and then heads back to the counter.

‘I see,’ Seungyoun says knowingly. ‘Sorry about hitting on your boyfriend earlier, I didn’t-’

‘He’s my brother.’ Hangyul says, cutting him off. ‘Jaehyun-hyung is my older brother.’

‘Ah,’ Seungyoun says. He’s stumped, before he smoothly adds, ‘I see the resemblance.’

‘I’m adopted.’ Hangyul adds.

‘Ah.’

‘You forgot.’ 

‘Yeah.’ Seungyoun admits. He has the decency to look away sheepishly, and he rubs at the back of his neck in embarrassment.

Hangyul takes a sip of the coffee and winces a little at how sweet it is, but it’s still good nonetheless. 

‘So,’ he begins. ‘I don’t know how quickly you work, exactly, but I’m going to need at least three different beats that last around fifteen minutes by the end of two months.’

‘That’s it?’ Seungyoun asks incredulously. ‘You’re not gonna try and talk about high school?’

‘Why would I want to talk about that.’ Hangyul says flatly. 

‘I just figured, with me being your  _ first love _ -’

‘I can produce this myself, you know.’ Hangyul interrupts again, and he sees Seungyoun turn serious for the first time. 

‘No.’ Seungyoun says. ‘No, I need this. Sorry.’

‘It’s okay.’

‘It’s just.’ Seungyoun starts, and then he runs his fingers through his hair and takes another sip. ‘I do kind of need this job.’

‘If it’s about money, Jinhyuk-hyung said you’d do it for free,’ Hangyul says slowly. ‘But I’m perfectly happy to pay you, seriously-’

‘I’m not making you pay me,’ Seungyoun scoffs. 

‘You sound kind of desperate,’ Hangyul retorts weakly and Seungyoun leans forward.

‘Hangyul-ah. Did you forget I’m a chaebol?’

Oh yes. Right. Hangyul had actually forgotten that.

‘I can write whatever you need,’ Seungyoun continues. ‘But if it’s for your dance competition, I have to know what the routine is going to be like, and what you have in mind. It should be more a collaboration than just me writing music for you.’

‘That sounds good to me.’ 

They draw up a schedule after that; the rest of that day, they spent coolly discussing Hangyul’s intended dance routine and Seungyoun had decided to send forward some sample beats once he got home for Hangyul to choose between, before developing them. Then at some point that week, they would meet up and go to Seungyoun’s house to make use of his studio, where Hangyul could work alongside Seungyoun, giving quicker feedback.

Seungyoun manages to slip in a few comments about high school that Hangyul resolutely ignores, and by the end of the meeting, Hangyul’s exhausted. The older man leaves first with a cheeky grin, and when Seungyoun’s out of eyesight, Hangyul lets his head crash onto the table.

‘You’ve got a big red mark in the middle of your forehead.’ Jaehyun tells him later that day.

  
  


♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun races home. His talk with Hangyul had been illuminating- not in the way he wanted, seeing that the younger was barely ruffled by Seungyoun’s identity and had no intention of discussing their school years together, although Seungyoun was practically desperate to reminisce and get some answers- but regardless, he was eager to get started with some simple ideas. It was an interesting brief: a cohesive number that would be musically interesting enough to rely on instrumentals only, but also would flow between different genres to best fit a dance performance.

‘So.’ Seungwoo says amusedly, waiting with Wooseok in Seungyoun’s kitchen. ‘Hangyul?’

‘He agreed,’ Seungyoun replies. He’s not fazed by his friends waiting in his home; Seungwoo’s staying in the guest room as his apartment gets exterminated- a fact that once Seungwoo admitted, had reduced Seungyoun and Wooseok to tears of laughter- and they normally hang out at Seungyoun’s house anyways. 

‘Good,’ Wooseok says. He’s playing with the spoon in his piping hot black coffee, and he purses his lips in thought. ‘Are you going to play nice?’

‘I’m nice,’ Seungyoun scoffs, and Wooseok rolls his eyes.

‘Usually.’ Wooseok concedes. ‘But you know, your  _ childhood enemy _ -’

‘-that’s a bit much,’ Seungyoun interrupts, but Wooseok waves a hand. 

‘-your  _ childhood enemy,’  _ he repeats, ‘seems to bring out a side of you I can safely say I’ve never seen before.’

‘That is true,’ Seungwoo says gently.

‘I’m Hangyul’s first love,’ Wooseok repeats in a mocking tone, and Seungyoun narrows his eyes. 

‘You guys remember what happened.’ Seungyoun says defensively, and Wooseok shrugs. 

‘Just saying.’ Wooseok takes a sip from his coffee and doesn’t even flinch despite both the heat and the bitterness, then takes the cup and heads to the large leather sofa, flipping through the channels idly as he texts his boyfriend. Seungwoo makes an aborted move to follow Wooseok, before sidling close up to Seungyoun’s side.

‘Hey,’ Seungwoo says quietly, and Seungyoun raises an eyebrow.

‘Hi?’

‘Can you give me Hangyul’s number?’ Seungwoo asks, and Seungyoun’s lucky he’s not drinking anything because he’s pretty sure he would’ve spat it out. 

‘What?’

‘You must have gotten Hangyul’s number today,’ Seungwoo continues. The tips of his ears are bright red, and Seungyoun wants to laugh. ‘I want to ask him a question.’

‘I could pass on the message,’ Seungyoun says, and Seungwoo shakes his head. 

‘No, it, uh. It should really come from me.’

Seungyoun blinks repeatedly before it clicks. 

The previous night, when they had made their way into the restaurant, late because of Wooseok’s shoot overrunning, Seungwoo had spotted Hangyul and Yohan laughing as they talked to each other, and Seungyoun had heard the older man inhale sharply, before murmuring to the two of them, ‘I want  _ that  _ one’, and then making a noise of recognition before breathing out ‘he’s  _ cuter  _ now’. Looking back, he understands: Hangyul had thrown his head back in loud, boisterous laughter at Yohan’s joke, and if Seungyoun didn’t recognise Hangyul on sight- the younger man really hadn’t changed at all- he would’ve been under the same spell. 

‘Ah,’ Seungyoun says. ‘I see.’ 

He drags out the vowels teasingly to see Seungwoo blush even more.

‘What’s happening?’ Wooseok asks. ‘Why are we teasing Seungwoo-hyung?’

‘He wants Hangyul’s number to ask a question.’ Seungyoun says immediately, dodging Seungwoo’s attempt at placing him in a headlock and heading to the sofa. Wooseok snorts. 

‘You move fast,’ he says lightly, ‘Mr You-Should-Call-Me-Hyung-When-We’ve-Just-Met. Does this have anything to do with you looking into taekwondo classes for yourself?’

‘Hangyul’s a dancer,’ Seungyoun points out, and Wooseok blinks, then nods slowly. 

‘Yes,’ he says. ‘Yes, he is.’ 

‘You two are mean,’ Seungwoo grumbles. ‘I need better friends. Wooseok, where’s Jinhyuk? I miss not being made fun of.’

‘Bold of you to assume Jinhyukie wouldn’t be teasing you.’ Seungyoun says lowly, as Wooseok fights back a smile at the mention of his boyfriend. 

‘He’s in class,’ Wooseok says. He doesn’t even check the time, he just knows he’s right.

‘Gross,’ Seungyoun says. ‘Grad school.’

‘Shut up, chaebol,’ Wooseok retorts, and Seungyoun can only stick his tongue out in response.

‘Children,’ Seungwoo chastises. 

They all end up watching a truly awful movie that was showing on an obscure channel, with each of them lying on their own sofa. Their hangouts were typically held at Seungyoun’s house, simply because Seungyoun’s house is the biggest, as well as being the one closest to where the three of them usually work. Halfway during the movie, Seungyoun sends Seungwoo Hangyul’s number. He watches as the tips of Seungwoo’s ears flush red, and the older man hurriedly begins typing (probably a text to Hangyul). Seungyoun pouts a little, then fixes his gaze back onto the film. 

He’s just upset he didn’t get more of a rise out of Hangyul earlier, that’s all.

♡♡♡♡

When Hangyul gets home later that day, he isn’t expecting to see Dohyon sitting on the floor, with Jiyeon and Jaehyun staring him down from the sofa.

‘Hey,’ Hangyul says, and he frowns. ‘I thought you two were busy?’

The last time he had checked, Jaehyun was going on a not-date with his not-boyfriend, who was finally moving to Korea, and Jiyeon had a modelling job somewhere in Busan.

‘Check your phone,’ Jiyeon says sweetly, and Hangyul does. He balks a little at the five missed calls from Dohyon and the 32 notifications in the family group-chat, and shrugs as he locks his phone, taking a seat next to Jaehyun on the sofa. He figures Dohyon’s in trouble, if he’s the one on the floor.

‘Brief me,’ Hangyul says.

‘Our Dohyonie,’ Jiyeon says sweetly, ‘has just given us some good news. He’s on the list for the next boy group that his company’s producing. When did you say the planned debut was?’

‘Next year,’ Dohyon mutters. 

‘Wow.’ Hangyul says pleasedly. ‘Congratulations. About time someone in this family became an idol.’

Dohyon beams at the praise, but wilts under the ice-cold look that Jiyeon shoots at him.

‘Tell Hangyulie the condition.’ Jaehyun says, and Hangyul raises an eyebrow.

‘Don’t shout at me,’ Dohyon says quickly. ‘But we can only debut if we’re doing good at school.’

‘Okay,’ Hangyul says slowly. ‘And you’re doing very well in school? I don’t see the problem.’

‘No,’ Jaehyun interrupts. ‘It turns out Dohyon does  _ very _ well in English and Piano.’

‘I’m a good student-’

‘Dohyon-ah, I’m technically a teacher at your school,’ Hangyul says, raising both his eyebrows. ‘Don’t make me check your grades.’

‘Okay, so I don’t really pay attention to anything else.’

‘Ah.’ 

‘He has to raise his place by one hundred places,’ Jiyeon says, cutting to the chase. Hangyul nods. 

‘So within the top ten?’ he asks brightly. It’s not impossible, and Dohyon really is a smart boy. Jaehyun shakes his head.

‘Top one hundred.’ 

‘That’s not right.’ Hangyul scoffs. ‘There’s two hundred students in the school, if Dohyon had to be within the top one hundred-’

Hangyul does some mental calculation and turns to Dohyon in horror.

‘Dohyon-ah,’ he says. ‘You have to be kidding me.’

‘It’s a performing arts school,’ Dohyon says weakly. ‘Why do I have to focus on physical education?’

‘I’m literally the sports coach?’ Hangyul says incredulously, at the same time Jiyeon snorts. 

‘You can tutor him, right?’ Jaehyun asks. Hangyul does a double-take when he realises that Jaehyun’s talking to him.

‘You and noona always got better results than me in school, why should I tutor him?.’

‘I mean, you know the syllabus.’

‘Ah yes,’ Hangyul says dryly. ‘Me, the part-time sports coach and dance teacher. I definitely know the math syllabus. I’m very willing to abuse my non-existent authority and risk getting fired, meaning I can no longer pay for university.’

‘You’re on an _academic_ _scholarship-’_

‘Boys,’ Jiyeon says lowly. ‘We’ll just hire a tutor. It’s fine.’

‘And leave Dohyon alone in the house when the lessons are over?’ Hangyul asks and Dohyon narrows his eyes at his brother.

‘I’m fine now.’ 

‘Sure,’ Hangyul says. ‘Last weekend?’

‘What happened last weekend?’

‘Nothing,’ Dohyon replies shrilly.

‘He finished all the ramen and set the kitchen on fire.’ Hangyul says, and Jaehyun groans.

‘We have over twenty packets of ramen,’ Jiyeon says in disbelief, and Hangyul snorts.

‘Had.’ he corrects. Jiyeon fixes Dohyon with a stare and Dohyon smiles uneasily.

‘Okay, I get your point, I should really be with one of you.’ he says. 

‘He can have his lessons in the cafe and then stick around until I go home.’ Jaehyun says. Jiyeon shakes her head. 

‘You have weird hours,’ Jiyeon says. ‘And you’re always hanging out with Johnny afterwards.’

‘I’ll just stop hanging out with Johnny.’

‘Hyung, no,’ Hangyul gasps in mock horror. ‘But how else will you get laid?’

He dodges the smack that comes his way. 

‘Can we not get a normal tutor?’ Jiyeon asks, her head in her hands in despair at her brothers, and Hangyul shrugs. 

‘Too expensive,’ Jaehyun says. 

‘I can probably get Yohan to do it,’ Hangyul offers. ‘He tutored his sisters through the same stuff last year.’

‘For free?’ Jiyeon says incredulously. ‘No, I feel bad. At least let me or Jaehyunie pay him-’

‘It’s okay,’ Hangyul says with a smug smirk. ‘He owes me one.’

‘You owe me one,’ Hangyul says pleadingly, and he can practically see Yohan raising an eyebrow on the other end of the call.

‘You pay for all of my food from the cafeteria until the end of the year,’ Yohan replies, and Hangyul snorts. 

‘How about, I give you Han Seungwoo’s number?’

‘As if you have it.’

‘Trust me. I have a text from Seungwoo-hyung from today that says,  _ Hello, Hangyul-ssi, I got your number from Seungyounie, I was wondering if you could give me Yohanie’s numb _ -’

He’s interrupted by a strange screeching sound that he’s never heard his best friend make, before a chesty cough. 

‘Hangyul,’ Yohan says seriously. ‘I’ll do it. Send me his number right now.’

♡♡♡♡

Later that week, Hangyul trudges up to the address that Seungyoun had given him, ready to start their work together. It’s basically a penthouse, and in a really fancy area too, and Hangyul wonders if he’s about to live out a real-life version of  _ Parasite  _ as he rings the doorbell. He had gone to the gym with Yohan earlier that day, since university was finished for the year and they were free all day, smiling in amusement as Yohan stuttered some excuse for switching gyms to the one that he realised Seungwoo ran once the older man had practically raced down the stairs to meet the two of them, and then quickly grew annoyed at being the third wheel. Not that he was annoyed at Yohan and Seungwoo’s awkward,  _ awkward _ flirting- it was actually hilarious to watch- but it did mean his workout was impeded slightly by the fact that his friend chose to flirt as opposed to spot him. 

But the sun was barely setting, a plus side of summer, and the night didn’t feel quite so cold, and he was cautiously optimistic about working with Seungyoun. 

‘Hangyul-ah!’ Seungyoun calls from the buzzer, his voice crackly. Hangyul clears his throat, ready to reply, but the door clicks open anyway. He walks inside carefully, irrationally worried that his mere presence will turn the white walls dirty or something, but he’s met with the delicious smell of takeout food and an expanse of space. It’s open plan, and basically a copy of every single chaebol’s house in a k-drama ever. Hangyul kind of hates and loves it.

‘I figured you hadn’t eaten yet?’ Seungyoun asks, appearing out of nowhere, and Hangyul whirls around to face the older man. His stomach rumbles at the mention of food _ , _ and Seungyoun chuckles. 

‘I was gonna eat after,’ Hangyul mumbles.

‘Dunno when we’re gonna end,’ Seungyoun replies with a shrug. ‘I ordered half-half chicken.’

‘Oh,  _ hell  _ yes.’

So Hangyul toes off his shoes, and then Seungyoun leads Hangyul into a different room down a long corridor. It’s a nondescript wooden door, but when he opens it he sees a home studio that rivals the technology at his own university, which was pretty modern. There’s a resting area, with a sprawling couch and coffee-table in the middle right next to them and is probably so that a large group can all be recording and working in the studio together. On the coffee table is a box of fried chicken, and Hangyul resists the urge to drool. Seungyoun gestures towards the food, sitting down to eat.

‘You’re ruining my gym plans,’ Hangyul says, and he sits next to Seungyoun. They eat in silence for a while, and Hangyul does have to admit that this has made him a lot more comfortable around the older man. The history between them seems a lot more distant, and he remembers why Seungyoun was his first proper friend at high school.

_ I’m Hangyulie’s first love.  _

Hangyul nearly spits out his chicken at Seungyoun’s voice floating around his head. 

‘You okay?’ Seungyoun asks, and Hangyul looks at Seungyoun with large, surprised eyes. 

‘Yeah,’ he coughs, ‘just went down the wrong hole.’

He’s taken a little off-guard with how  _ nice  _ Seungyoun’s being, especially given the barely there tension thrumming between the two from their first and second meetings. It’s almost as if they had never fallen out, and That Night had never happened between the two, and they just continued being friends. Their conversation is light, never straying too far from just catching up and telling funny stories about their day, but it comes naturally. Hangyul notes pleasedly that Seungyoun giggles a lot at Hangyul’s jokes. 

The actual composing doesn’t feel a lot like work as well. Seungyoun’s already had some ideas, like a cool warped bass with a hypnotising melodic riff and Hangyul immediately has some ideas for a dance and how it would be set up. He’s pleasantly surprised at how well the two work together, and Seungyoun seems to pick up on his own ideas just as quickly. The music that they write that day is nothing particularly special, or totally inspiring, but Hangyul feels secure in his decision to work with Seungyoun, despite their history. 

‘Do you think we should add lyrics?’ he asks, leaning back in the chair.

‘That’s up to you,’ Seungyoun says. ‘If we do, this whole process becomes easier. No need to be so expressive with the melody.’

‘Easier.’ Hangyul scoffs. Of course something as difficult as writing lyrics would be easy to Seungyoun. ‘But won’t it feel like they’re trying to be idols, and less like an actual dance performance?’

Seungyoun blinks a few times. 

‘What’s wrong with being an idol?’ 

‘Nothing.’ Hangyul quickly retorts. ‘I mean, all my siblings and I have been trainees at some point in time, but uh. Didn’t work out. Nothing against idols.’

Seungyoun thinks about Hangyul’s weirdly attractive family; from Jaehyun the barista, to his famous older sister Jiyeon, to Hangyul himself, and then Hangyul’s cute prodigious younger brother that the younger man had gushed about earlier, and he nods slowly.

‘Yeah, I see that. You’re all very…’ he trails off and waves his hands around in an indefinable gesture. Hangyul snorts.

‘Thanks,’ he says amusedly. Seungyoun scowls in faux anger, and then he relaxes in his chair.

‘I wanted to be an idol,’ he says simply with a shrug. ‘Still kind of do. It’s why I’m doing this, to get my name out there.’

‘You’d be really good, hyung,’ Hangyul says softly, and Seungyoun clears his throat.

‘Where were we,’ Seungyoun says, not really asking a question. ‘Right. Lyrics. So, no?’

‘But what if the lyrics heighten the performance,’ Hangyul counters with a soft smile.‘People do choreography to pop songs all the time.’

It feels more like they’re bickering for the sake of bickering, as Hangyul’s pretty sure he’s swapped sides of the argument.Hangyul remembers this being how they talked in high school too, through an equal amount of jokes and bickering.

‘Then we write lyrics,’ Seungyoun says with a shrug. ‘I’m good either way. I have some stuff you can look over, here-’

Seungyoun unlocks and slides his phone to Hangyul, too focused on figuring out the right synth sound to worry about Hangyul going through his phone. 

‘Notes app,’ Seungyoun directs, and he hears Hangyul tapping.

‘You have a note called passwords,’ Hangyul says idly.

‘I trust you.’ 

Hangyul inhales sharply. Something in his chest twists at Seungyoun’s casual admission, and he plays it off with a laugh. He locates the note titled  _ words??? lyrics???? _ , and Seungyoun stretches his arms out in front of him.

‘No big deal, Hangyul,’ he says quietly. ‘We were friends then and we can be friends now, right?’

‘Of course,’ Hangyul replies quickly. He scans the lyrics and makes an appreciative humming noise. 

_ Friends.  _

He remembers the first time Seungyoun declared them friends- it had been ages ago, really, and it was at the end of Hangyul’s first term at the new school, as he had to transfer schools once he was adopted. He had just about settled in, and whilst he was friendly with a lot of kids, it wasn’t until he met Seungyoun through the dance academy they both attended at the weekends. The two had hit it off right away- in a really similar way to now- and pretty much became inseparable.

‘I like this,’ Hangyul says. He reads the lyrics out and Seungyoun  _ ahhs  _ in recognition. He pulls up the track that the lyrics are from, and Hangyul can’t help but groove at the beat. 

‘I’ll keep this one in mind then,’ Seungyoun says. He frowns. ‘It’s kind of late.’

Hangyul checks the time on Seungyoun’s phone and grimaces- it’s nearing one am, and even though school’s finished for the term, he doesn’t like the idea of having to sneak home to avoid waking up Dohyon.

Speaking of Dohyon. 

‘Oh,’ Hangyul says. ‘I forgot to ask.’

‘Shoot,’ Seungyoun says, saving the files repeatedly.

‘This is kind of complicated,’ Hangyul grimaces. ‘Dohyonie needs tutoring.’

‘Oh. I can’t help with that, don’t you remember I didn’t really pay attention in school-’

Hangyul winces at the reminder of their past friendship and shakes his head. ‘No, I already talked Yohan into tutoring him. The thing is, Dohyonie can’t be left at home.’

‘I don’t follow?’

‘He..’ Hangyul trails off. Aside from the ramen and the fire thing, Dohyon really hated being left alone in the house, especially since their parents died. 

‘You don’t have to tell me,’ Seungyoun cuts in, recognising Hangyul’s hesitation. ‘Just- how am I meant to help?’

‘In the future, would it be okay for Dohyon and Yohan to come here for tutoring?’ Hangyul asks. ‘I know it’s kind of presumptuous, but my siblings can’t really stay at home, and Dohyon can’t stay at Yohan’s house because Yohan’s family is super busy-’

‘That’s cool with me.’ Seungyoun says with a wave of his hand. ‘There’s more than enough space.’

‘Yohan will probably leave after the sessions, but Dohyon might stay, if he’s not busy, if that’s okay.’

‘He’s a trainee, right?’ Seungyoun asks. ‘You mentioned earlier.’

‘Yeah?’

‘He could come in here and learn.’ Seungyoun offers. ‘Or help us, even.’

‘Oh,’ Hangyul says. This is better than he could’ve asked for. ‘I don’t want to impose-’

‘It’s cool.’ Seungyoun says resolutely. ‘Don’t worry about it. He sounds like a good kid, and it also seems pretty important, so, you know. This is beyond fine.’

Hangyul nods slowly. ‘That’s really helpful, you have no idea.’

‘Speaking of things we forgot to mention.’ Seungyoun says, leaning in and lowering his voice. ‘Seungwoo-hyung has to stay here for a while.’ 

He punctuates the end of the sentence with a wink, and Hangyul raises an eyebrow, before he realises that Seungyoun is probably referring to the awkward flirting between Seungwoo and Yohan. An excited grin spreads across his own face.

‘Nice,’ Hangyul says, glad to have found a fellow conspirator in Seungwoo and Yohan’s relationship.

They part soon after that, and it’s fairly casual, with just a wave and a promise to see each other the day after next, as they had agreed beforehand.

Hangyul decides to walk home- it’s about a half an hour away, but he likes the fresh, cold night air- and thinks about the day so far.

It didn’t feel strange to settle into a friendly relationship with Seungyoun so quickly, and he remembers fondly the same banter that they used to have before everything went down. Rehashing that night would be pointless, especially when the two of them have entered a silent agreement to just forget the disaster of the barbeque and  _ I’m Hangyul’s first love.  _ They were valuing professionalism over their own personal interests, and Hangyul was totally fine with that.

When he gets home, he tiptoes up the stairs- there’s not much point, seeing how Jiyeon probably isn’t home, Jaehyun’s probably got headphones in and Dohyon is either still training or sleeping like the dead- and bypasses his bedroom door to find the storage cupboard. Inside is just shelves and a small standing space, and Hangyul has to reach up on his tippy-toes to find the box he’s looking for; it’s on the top shelf, and he wrinkles his nose as dust comes flying off it when he takes it down. 

It’s a simple mahogany, and it creaks open to show a mess of memorabilia. There’s a friendship bracelet, a candy wrapper from the sweet that Seungyoun offered to Hangyul the first day they met, and then-

Ah, yes.

Hangyul picks up the strip of photos that the two of them had taken from the only photo-booth near their high-school campus. It’s horrifically bright, and age hadn’t been kind to the pictures, meaning that both of their faces are over-exposed as hell. That doesn’t hide the pure joy in their faces as they played around, pulling funny expressions as they practically leaned on each other. He isn’t sure whether he wants to put the photostrip back into the chest and lock it away, or stash it away somewhere in his room. Eventually he opts for the even worse decision to just take the whole box into his room and put it on his desk, telling himself it’s to wipe off the dust despite knowing he had no intention of putting it back.

He sighs. 

‘You sure didn’t look like you hate me,’ Hangyul murmurs to the younger Seungyoun in the photos, tracing a rounder jaw and the curves of an eye-smile with a bittersweet smile. 

♡♡♡♡

Yohan lets Hangyul know that he’s waiting for him in Jaehyun’s coffee-shop at nine am, and Hangyul manages to get there within ten minutes. He’s greeted with the sight of Yohan sipping from his large iced americano on Their Table- it wasn’t officially, but they sat at the table enough times to make it feel like it truly was theirs- with a significantly smaller cup in front of this.

‘What’d you get me?’ Hangyul asks, pulling up his chair and Yohan smiles sweetly.

‘Orange juice,’ Yohan says, and Hangyul lets his face fall into an expression of disappointment. He takes a sip from it, hoping that it’s actually something caffeinated, but the taste of orange hits his tongue.

‘Refreshing,’ Hangyul says dryly.

‘How are you?’

‘What do you really want to talk about?’

‘Seungwoo texted me,’ Yohan blurts.

‘There it is.’

‘I don’t know how to reply.’

‘You couldn’t have texted me to ask me this? I was enjoying my lie-in.’

‘No.’

‘Tell him you like him and have wanted his babies since you were fourteen,’ Hangyul says with a shrug, leaning back in his seat and sipping. The orange juice is actually really nice. 

‘That makes me sound creepy,’ Yohan says sadly. He’s staring at his phone screen, eyebrows furrowed in thought, and he shows Hangyul the message. Hangyul reads it and smiles brightly.

‘I think you could say that,’ Hangyul says slowly, ‘seeing as I’m pretty sure Seungwoo’s flirting with you.’

‘Shut up,’ Yohan hisses, ‘there’s  _ no way _ .’

‘I told you to call me hyung,’ Hangyul reads out, and Yohan blushes.

‘You called Seungyoun hyung,’ Yohan retorts, and Hangyul gapes. He had mumbled a goodbye to them all as he left- well, fled- the table.

‘That’s different.’

‘How?’

‘I’m not flirting with Seungyoun.’

‘Well, no,’ Yohan agrees, ‘but  _ I’m Hangyulie’s first love _ is pretty self-descriptive as an introduction.’

‘Oh god-’

‘Why didn’t you  _ tell me _ -’ Yohan hisses. Hangyul sighs.

‘Didn’t want to talk about it.’

‘Clearly.’

‘Do I have to talk about it now?’

‘Obviously.’

Hangyul grits his teeth.

‘My first year of high school,’ he says, and Yohan struggles to hide how excited he looks, ‘I met Seungyoun-ssi in the dance academy my mum enrolled me in. We were good friends. I confessed to him. He rejected me and moved to China, and we never talked again until yesterday.’

‘Bad rejection?’ Yohan asks with a particularly long sip of his drink through the metal straw.

‘Not really.’ Hangyul lies.

‘So yes,’ he concludes. ‘We became friends the next year, right? That’s why I didn’t know about this.’

‘If I was still friends with Seungyoun, it would have been so easy to get you to talk to Seungwoo-hyung,’ Hangyul says wistfully. ‘I could’ve just brought you along, I didn’t have to camp by the gym with you.’

‘I can tell you’re changing the subject.’ Yohan says, rolling his eyes. ‘This really isn’t subtle.’

‘My dignity is on the line, please let me change the subject.’

‘Only because you got me Seungwoo-hyung’s number.’

‘You should really reply, by the way. You’ve left him on read for at least ten minutes now.’

‘Oh shit-’

♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun stares at the address that Hangyul texted him.

He’s driving back from his day-trip to Gangneung with his friends and was going to meet Hangyul anyway, so he offered to pick the younger man up. He’s at a rest-stop when he reads Hangyul’s reply.

‘You alright?’ his friend asks, and Seungyoun nods.

‘Blast from the past,’ Seungyoun says in explanation.

He decides it’s a little pathetic of him, that he’s remembered Hangyul’s address after all these years. He probably remembers it better than the addresses of the small apartments he had stayed at in both Brazil and China. It lingers in the back of his mind all throughout the car trip back and when he drops his friends off at their respective apartments. He sings a little to himself as he pulls up into the familiar street. 

He was going to stay in the car and just wait for Hangyul to come out, but something tells him to go out and actually look at the house. 

It’s the same house as in his memories; it’s a fairly medium sized house hidden behind a brick wall that spans the perimeter, with overgrown ivy resting on top. There’s a pair of large yellow double-doors and a single one within the brick wall that act as a gate, being locked from the inside, and small steps in front, with the new addition of potted plants resting on the steps. There are cafe lights draped on the top of the doors that are the exact same as Seungyoun remembers. He steps closer and stops in his tracks as he sees a familiar carving in the brick wall. 

The single door swings inward and Hangyul appears in a simple white t-shirt and loose fitting jeans.

‘Oh,’ Hangyul says, surprised. He takes the few steps down and ambles towards Seungyoun. ‘You should’ve texted me if you were outside, I would’ve hurried up.’

‘I just arrived,’ Seungyoun replies. ‘Your house really hasn’t changed.’

‘Oh, it has,’ Hangyul says with a frown. 

‘Really? I didn’t notice any difference.’

‘The lightbulbs are different,’ Hangyul says with a beam. Seungyoun chokes on his laughter.

‘Is that-’

He gestures limply to the two drawings carved into the brick wall, and Hangyul turns his head to follow Seungyoun’s arm, and he smiles nervously.

‘Noona said it was cute,’ Hangyul says as explanation. ‘And it’s too hard to get carvings out of brick.’

‘Sinna,’ Seungyoun says.

‘You remember,’ Hangyul says happily. ‘Sinna and the Baron.’

‘Baron Humbert von Gikkingen,’ Seungyoun repeats softly. ‘You remember too.’

‘He’s literally carved into my wall, Seungyoun-ssi,’ Hangyul reminds with a giggle. ‘It would be weird if I forgot.’

‘I can’t believe I forgot we did that,’ Seungyoun says with a large grin. It had been a late night at cram school, and Seungyoun walked Hangyul back to his home. He had been listening to Hangyul discuss his new idea for a mascot for their dancing academy on the weekends, and Hangyul had been impatient and picked up a stone and carved it straight on to the brick wall. Seungyoun had watched in horror as Hangyul drew, and then somehow he was talked into joining Hangyul. 

_ Sinna looks lonely,  _ Hangyul had said. Seungyoun still disagrees to this day; the large smiling face could look happy even during a zombie apocalypse where that character was the last one standing, and had enough presence despite its small size on the wall. But Hangyul had looked at him with pleading eyes and Seungyoun had hastily sketched his favourite character at the time, and Hangyul had smiled and declared it their equivalent of a friendship bracelet. 

‘Dohyon’s embarrassed of it,’ Hangyul says with a shrug. ‘He says that my drawing is bad.’

‘Mine’s pretty good,’ Seungyoun says. He had captured the likeness of the cat character fairly well.

Hangyul makes a noise of agreement and they walk to Seungyoun’s car in comfortable silence. Once they’re in, Seungyoun waits for Hangyul to buckle his seatbelt before he reverses, steering with one hand and putting the other behind Hangyul’s headrest. 

‘Oh, Seungyoun-ssi, you look cool,’ Hangyul says lightly, and Seungyoun snorts.

‘Do you have your license yet?’ he asks, making polite small talk. 

‘Class one,’ Hangyul says smugly and Seungyoun makes a surprised face.

‘So like, trucks?’

‘Yep,’ Hangyul says, popping the p. ‘I made a pact with Yohanie, so we both have it.’

‘What the hell,’ Seungyoun breathes. 

‘It comes in handy, I swear,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun laughs. 

‘Hangyul-ah, you could probably drive my car better than me.’

‘I’m holding you to that.’ Hangyul squirms exaggeratedly in the seat. ‘I’m gonna steal your car from you.’

‘You’d outdrive me.’

‘I’d speed out of Seoul and go to the countryside,’ Hangyul says. ‘You would never find me there.’

‘Aren’t our hometowns the same distance away from Seoul?’ Seungyoun asks amusedly.

‘I never said I knew the countryside,’ Hangyul points out. ‘You wouldn’t be able to follow my route, because I wouldn’t know what my route would be.’

Seungyoun bursts into laughter. 

They get to Seungyoun’s house fairly soon after that, and the conversation flows just as naturally. The conversation bounces around from tentative recollections of high school and continuations of the previous updates on their lives they had given each other, and it had culminated in Seungyoun turning on the radio singing along at the top of his lungs, with Hangyul knowing every other song. 

Seungyoun parks the car in his garage and the two head inside; Hangyul’s relatively comfortable with the layout now, but he walks into the room next to the studio, mistaking it for the right door, and opens the door to Seungyouns bedroom. He shuts the door just as quickly as he opens it and apologises profusely, but Seungyoun shrugs in indifference. 

‘So,’ Seungyoun says, throwing his jacket over the back of his chair and sitting cross-legged on the seat, ‘I’ve done some more stuff, but I wasn’t sure if you were gonna like it.’ 

Hangyul raises an eyebrow and cautiously sits next to Seungyoun. 

‘Hit me,’ Hangyul says and Seungyoun punches Hangyul’s arm lightly. The younger man doesn’t flinch in response, instead just pursing his lips and opening his eyes wider in disappointment, making Seungyoun crack up in laughter once again.

‘Okay,’ Seungyoun says once he’s calmed down. He pulls up the same files as last time and the two of them begin to lose themselves once more in producing. 

Hangyul’s not ashamed to admit he doesn’t excel in this area yet. Whilst his minor did focus on composition, it was more arranging and Western music theory based, making the sort of thing Seungyoun does- composing modern pop- just outside Hangyul’s comfort zone. He’s working with a good dance team as well, with some star dancers in the midst, likely to join Hangyul at his performing arts university once they graduate high school, and Hangyul only wants the best music for the dance competition he wants to enter them all for to ensure the best choreography, and then the win.

‘Tell me about them,’ Seungyoun says quietly, and Hangyul makes a small noise of confusion. Seungyoun’s quiet, vague request had broken the silence between them, and Hangyul hadn’t really been paying attention to whatever Seungyoun was fiddling with. it was something that Hangyul couldn’t really tell the difference between, but Seungyoun seemed pretty set on fixing.

‘About the team we’re composing for,’ Seungyoun clarifies, and Hangyul nods in understanding. He resists the urge to smile at Seungyoun’s usage of  _ we _ , making the whole experience feel more like a collaboration as opposed to Hangyul just watching Seungyoun work.

‘The dance team? They’re really good.’ Hangyul says happily. ‘There’s some really, really good dancers in the bunch.’

‘Oh yeah?’

‘Hyeongjun and Dongpyo,’ Hangyul admits. ‘They’re really quick to learn, and have really pretty dance lines and good technique. Eunsang’s really versatile and works super hard, and Junho’s had a massive growth in confidence recently, so he can only get better. Minhee’s come a really long way from where he started, and it’s also impressive how good he is because dancing can be quite hard when you’re as tall as him.’

‘How would you know?’ Seungyoun teases, and Hangyul narrows his eyes. 

‘I’m tall,’ Hangyul says through a pout. Seungyoun resists the urge to squeeze Hangyul’s cheek.

‘Sure. Are those kids your favourites?’

‘I don’t have favourites,’ Hangyul sniffs. He starts to talk about the rest of the dance group, and Seungyoun pauses his work to just watch Hangyul talk. He’s clearly really passionate about the group, and he talks about them all with such fondness that Seungyoun can’t help but smile. He can practically imagine all the kids in front of him, as Hangyul describes them all with such clarity.

‘-and Hyunbin is so charismatic but he has the cutest ears so I sometimes can’t take him seriously.’

Seungyoun hums in agreement, and Hangyul’s about to keep talking when he realises that he’s just been gushing about a bunch of teenagers that Seungyoun doesn’t personally know, and he looks down to his lap in embarrassment.

‘Who else?’ Seungyoun asks, and Hangyul looks back up.

‘That’s it,’ Hangyul says dumbly. ‘Sorry about that.’

‘Why are you sorry? It was cute.’

‘Cute?’

‘You’re really passionate about all of them, way beyond what your job entails,’ Seungyoun says, ‘and you have a nice voice to listen to. It was cute.’

‘I’m not cute.’

‘If you say so,’ Seungyoun says. He directs his attention back to the text and lets a small smile bloom. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see Hangyul pout and sit back in his chair, and then begin to swivel round. The younger man really does remind him of a puppy sometimes, a contrast to his cold, charismatic visuals, and he never feels bored with the younger man, nor does he feel distracted. He chooses a different synth sound and Hangyul  _ oohs,  _ practically scrabbling to sit up properly in his seat.

‘I like that one.’ Hangyul says eagerly, and Seungyoun cocks his head to the side.

‘Really?’ Seungyoun says. ‘Do you think it sounds good with the bass sound then?’

‘Maybe that one,’ Hangyul says, pointing to a different synth sound. ‘I think we should choose the thickest sound so it’s more impactful over the speakers.’

‘Good call.’

♡♡♡♡

The next time they meet up, Hangyul tentatively asks if Yohan and Dohyon could have their first tutoring session that night. Seungyoun agrees almost immediately, and he makes sure to order a larger amount of food to share between the four of them. 

They decide that Yohan should drive them all so that he could leave once the tutoring session was over, and they pile into Yohan’s car- Hangyul lets Dohyon take the shotgun seat. 

‘This is gonna be awkward,’ Dohyon mumbles, and Yohan nods. 

‘You know me,’ Yohan whines, ‘you just have to take me seriously, I swear I’m good at teaching-’

‘No, no, hyung, I mean being at someone else’s house,’ Dohyon says shyly. 

‘It’s okay, your hyung knows Seungyoun  _ really  _ well,’ Yohan says with a leer, and Hangyul rolls his eyes. 

‘Oh, it’s Seungyoun-hyung? Really?’ Dohyon asks. Hangyul can literally see Dohyon perk up in his seat. 

‘You know him?’ Yohan says in confusion. 

‘He’s the one who drew the Baron on the wall,’ Hangyul explains to Yohan, and Dohyon nods in agreement.

‘Seungyoun’s the guy Hangyul-hyung had a crush on in school,’ he says, and Yohan bursts into giggles as Hangyul practically chokes on his saliva. 

‘ _ Shhh, _ ’ Hangyul hisses, even though Yohan’s the only one who heard and there’s no-one else in the car. 

‘It was really bad, Yohan-hyung,’ Dohyon says, eyes bright and twinkling with mischief. ‘Hangyul-hyung was so annoying, he kept backflipping everywhere to show off to this guy. But Seungyoun-hyung was really nice to me, he bought me pork ribs like, five times. And snacks.’

‘That does sound annoying,’ Yohan says, suppressing his laughter and Hangyul kicks the back of Yohan’s seat. 

‘Yohanie made me stalk his crush,’ Hangyul weakly counter-protests and Yohan smirks.

‘I’m sorry, you were backflipping for his attention,’ Yohan snorts. ‘You lose.’

‘It’s true,’ Dohyon says, eager to gang up on Hangyul.

‘I’m gonna tell Seungyoun-hyung to not give you any food,’ Hangyul sulks, and Yohan raises an eyebrow.

‘Hyung,’ Yohan says.

‘He told me to call him hyung.’

‘Alright,’ Yohan says lightly. 

Seungyoun’s nothing but kind when he welcomes them all into the home, quickly smoothing over their questionable first meeting. Dohyon’s shy at first, but then he practically bounds into Seungyoun’s arms when Seungyoun reveals just how much he remembers about the younger boy. The producer practically bounces around in glee when he hears that they all haven’t eaten yet, and explains that he was planning on cooking some food that his mother had left him later that evening, and wanted to share with the three of them. Dohyon lights up in happiness at the mention of food, and Hangyul seizes the opportunity to be a good older brother.

‘Only once Yohan says so,’ Hangyul says sternly. Dohyon looks distraught, and Hangyul is the only person in the room who doesn’t waver at the sight of Dohyon’s pleading puppy eyes.

‘He’s been training really hard recently,’ Yohan says at the same time Seungyoun declares, ‘this is  _ my _ treat for today.’

Hangyul just fixes Dohyon with a knowing stare, then moves his fingers between his eyes and Dohyon’s in the universal  _ I’m watching you  _ gesture. 

‘You should go work,’ Yohan says, with enough emphasis on the work and a wink to make Hangyul feel uneasy with whatever the heck Yohan was implying. 

‘Just come tell us when you’re done,’ Seungyoun says, not catching Yohan’s wink. ‘You don’t even need to knock, just come into the room.’

‘I can cook it,’ Yohan says, ‘if you want to eat the second you come out-’

‘Oh god, no, I’ll cook it,’ Hangyul interrupts. ‘Yohan-ah, you burn all the food and Dohyon can’t cook.’

‘I’ll cook.’ Seungyoun says amusedly. ‘Come in half an hour before you’re gonna finish the tutoring and we’ll come out to cook.’

‘I can cook,’ Yohan mumbles to himself as he watches Seungyoun and Hangyul awkwardly shuffle off to the studio. He turns to Dohyon and they decide to work in the living room, Yohan sitting on the sofa and Dohyon on the floor, his long legs spread out as Yohan teaches. 

Seungwoo wanders out of the shower and heads to the kitchen, absent-mindedly towelling his hair and he doesn’t bat an eye at the man filling up a glass of water.

‘Seungyoun-ah,’ he says, opening the fridge door to take out a can of beer, ‘have you already eaten? I kind of want to order some chicken.’ 

He closes the door and freezes as he meets Yohan’s surprised gaze, and he winces at the sound of the glasses clinking together, and water spilling.

‘Hyung,’ Yohan breathes, and Seungwoo exhales shakily. 

‘Hi,’ Seungwoo says, collecting himself. 

‘Hyung,’ Yohan repeats. ‘You- uh, there’s a reason I’m here.’

‘Sure,’ Seungwoo says. He’s trying to understand, but he’s really just elated. He was ready to sit Seungyoun down and moan about his lack of progress with Yohan, only to have the boy right in front of him. It’s like a dream come true. 

He smiles at Yohan, who still looks pretty shocked, and then his smile turns into a smirk as he watches the boy begin to squirm, desperately keeping his eyes on the spot above Seungwoo’s shoulder.

‘Let me get dressed,’ Seungwoo purrs. ‘I’ll be right with you.’

‘Actually, I’m tutoring someone?’ Yohan squeaks, and Seungwoo blinks. That was unexpected.

‘Here?’

‘Dohyonie, Hangyulie’s younger brother, he needs to be tutored but we didn’t wanna do it in his house because Dohyon can’t be left alone, but we couldn’t stay at Hangyul’s hyung’s cafe because Hangyul’s hyung’s works weird hours, and Seungyoun-hyung said we could work here since it’s his house, and- wait, why are you here?’

‘I’m staying here?’ Seungwoo replies, and it comes out more questioning than a statement. ‘They found mice in my apartment so I’m staying here for a bit.’

Yohan quirks an eyebrow and giggles. 

‘Not that I’m dirty,’ Seungwoo quickly adds. 

‘Sure,’ Yohan says. 

‘I’m very clean.’

‘I believe you.’ 

‘Good,’ Seungwoo says. He peers around the corner to look into the living room, which is blocked off by a large glass wall, and can just about see a distorted shape of what was probably a teenager.

‘We were gonna cook dinner.’ Yohan says shyly, and Seungwoo tries to not let his shoulders fall, practically screaming how crestfallen he is at the sound of this admittance. 

‘Ah,’ he says. ‘Well, I’ll see you at the gym-’

‘I mean, obviously you’re invited if you live here,’ Yohan says quietly, looking up at Seungwoo under his eyelashes. He feels his heart start racing, and he stammers a yes out. If he wasn’t rendered useless before, he was now, at the sight of Yohan’s bright smile.

‘How long will it be until dinner?’ Seungwoo asks.

‘Well, we’re on math right now, so maybe a while. I’m not very good at teaching math.’

‘I’ll help,’ Seungwoo says immediately. ‘I’m a Physics major, I’ll help.’ 

‘Okay,’ Yohan says pleasedly. 

‘Let me just get clothed first.’ 

‘Oh no,’ Yohan mutters, and they both freeze, staring at each other. Yohan’s slowly growing redder and Seungwoo’s struggling to stay calm, when he knows there’s Hangyul and Seungyoun not too far away and Hangyul’s brother even closer. 

‘Ha,’ Seungwoo says, and then he runs off.

Seungwoo bursts into the studio, interrupting Hangyul and Seungyoun who are so close to rolling on the floor laughing. He wonders idly how they managed to spend so much time not talking to each other, deciding that their fallout must have been really dramatic to break those two up, and he waits for them to even notice his presence.

‘Oh,’ Hangyul says through his chuckles, ‘hey Seungwoo-hyung!’

Seungwoo cocks his head as he sees Seungyoun stiffen up at the mention of his own presence. 

‘Why aren’t you wearing clothes?’ Seungyoun asks.

‘I took a shower.’ Seungwoo replies quickly. ‘Can I have dinner with you guys?’ 

‘Obviously? You live here.’ Seungyoun says with a bright smile.

‘You live here?’ Hangyul asks confusedly.

‘They’re exterminating my apartment,’ Seungwoo says, blinking rapidly from the intense deja vu he suddenly feels.

Hangyul can’t help but let out a smirk, knowing that Yohan must be going crazy not too far away from them; it serves as sweet, sweet payback for everything his friend had insinuated about his relationship with Seungyoun, past and present. He doesn’t see Seungyoun watching his bright smile, and his own falling ever so slightly.

Yohan knocks on their door at six pm, and the two of them head to the kitchen to cook. 

‘I can’t cook well,’ Seungyoun admits, and Hangyul shrugs.

‘That’s okay. I can multitask,’ Hangyul replies. ‘What did your mum make?’

Seungyoun opens the fridge and Hangyul appraises the ingredients, pulling out what he needs for whatever he wants to cook, including the marinated pork from Seungyoun’s mum. 

‘Sit,’ Hangyul says, pulling out a knife from Seungyoun’s extensive cutlery collection and gesturing to the barstools behind the island in the middle of the kitchen. He begins to chop spring onions quickly and efficiently, and Seungyoun  _ oohs _ at Hangyul’s fancy skills. He can hear Yohan and Dohyon in the living room out of sight, and he lets himself rest his head in his hands, just watching Hangyul cook. It feels really domestic, and Seungyoun lets himself revel in the feeling. 

‘You’re making a lot,’ Seungyoun says as he watches Hangyul prepare at least twice the ingredients he thought he would need, and three more side-dishes than he would’ve thought to have made himself. Hangyul successfully begins a stew and is in the process of making a large egg roll as he replies.

‘Yohan and I are athletes,’ Hangyul explains, ‘Dohyon’s a bottomless pit, I remember you eating a lot in high school, and Seungwoo looks like he works out a lot, so he should eat more.’

Seungyoun pouts. ‘Do I look like I work out a lot?’

‘Sure,’ Hangyul says lightly. ‘I could totally take you in an arm-wrestling fight though.’

‘Yeah, you’d win,’ Seungyoun says, and he shrugs. ‘Don’t you remember-’

Seungyoun can see Hangyul freeze at the mention of high school with little prior warning, and he pauses, unsure if he should talk about it. It’s at that moment that Dohyon pads into the room, summoned by the smell of delicious food in the air.

‘Is there meat?’ Dohyon asks shyly.

‘Yah,’ Hangyul says.’Manners.’

‘Yeah, there is,’ Seungyoun says fondly, ruffling Dohyon’s hair. ‘There’s marinated pork, and Hangyul’s probably gonna add some cockles to the ramyeon.’

Dohyon beams.

‘Hyung’s really good at cooking,’ he tells Seungyoun. 

‘Noona’s better,’ Hangyul says humbly, and Dohyon smiles cheekily.

‘Noona’s been alive longer, of course she’s better.’

‘I’ve been alive longer than Hangyul and he’s better at cooking than me.’ Seungyoun points out, and Dohyon blinks rapidly as he tries to come up with a counter-argument. Yohan appears shortly after and he sits next to Seungyoun, just watching Hangyul.

‘You guys are very helpful,’ Seungwoo comments on the three men watching Hangyul, also walking into the room and Yohan and Hangyul jump. Seungyoun turns around.

‘Hangyulie won’t let me help,’ Seungyoun says. ‘He says I’m bad.’

‘You told me you were bad. I’m not gonna let you help either, hyung,’ Hangyul says warningly to Seungwoo. ‘Seungyoun told me about when you set the pasta on fire.’

‘That was on purpose.’ 

‘Speaking of, Yohan did that too,’ Hangyul says, sending a quick wink to Yohan. ‘You two have so much in common.’

Seungwoo and Yohan both turn red. The two of them both mutter an excuse to go set the table, and turn even redder when they realise that they’re going to be doing it together, and Hangyul shakes his head at how useless Yohan is at flirting. 

‘Set the table soon, please,’ Hangyul says. ‘T minus five minutes.’

Dohyon whoops, and he leaves to help his two hyungs set the table as well.

‘You need any help?’ Seungyoun asks quietly. 

‘Nope,’ Hangyul says, and he looks up from stirring to beam at Seungyoun. ‘Just help me get the food on the table and I’ll be happy.’

The food is really good. 

Seungyoun can’t help but moan around his first spoonful of food, and Hangyul had squirmed at the compliments that they had all- except Dohyon, who had just started eating with no stop- lavished on Hangyul. Once they start eating, the conversation becomes a lot more natural. 

‘Your highlights aren’t that cool, Seungyoun-ah,’ Seungwoo says honestly, responding to their discussion of Dohyon’s upcoming debut and idol hair. ‘They only look good because you’re cool.’

Seungyoun gasps. ‘I can’t tell if that’s a compliment or an insult.’

‘I think your highlights are cool.’ Hangyul says.

‘You should get highlights,’ Yohan says, eyes glinting with mischief and Hangyul cocks his head in thought. Dohyon chokes on his spoon of rice at the thought of Hangyul with the same hair as Seungyoun. 

‘I’ll get highlights if you bleach your hair,’ Hangyul tells Yohan seriously and Yohan narrows his eyes.

‘Bleach?’

‘I think pink hair would look pretty on you, Yohanie,’ Seungwoo offers and Yohan gulps. 

‘Pink?’

‘Yohan-ah,’ Hangyul says. ‘Call?’

‘You can’t go blond, you’re gonna copy me.’ Seungyoun protests.

‘Red,’ Dohyon suggests, and Hangyul shrugs. 

‘Sure. I’ll go red if Yohan goes pink.’

‘Call.’ Yohan says, and the two reach across the table and do a complicated handshake. 

Once they finish dinner, Seungyoun offers them all some coffee, deciding that offering drinks would be a bad idea considering that Yohan would be driving home and that Dohyon was very much a minor still. 

‘Coffee at nine pm,’ Dohyon says, wrinkling his nose. ‘I won’t be able to sleep.’

‘Seungyoun-hyung doesn't sleep,’ Hangyul points out. ‘But yeah, we should probably head home. Dohyon has school tomorrow.’

‘I’ll drive you home,’ Seungwoo offers, and Yohan shakes his head. 

‘I brought my car,’ he explains.

‘Hyung, you can’t drive,’ Seungyoun mutters to Seungwoo out the corner of his mouth, and Seungwoo’s laugh is a little manic sounding.

‘I forgot that,’ Seungwoo mutters back and Seungyoun resists the urge to laugh. He figures that Seungwoo was too eager to get the three of them home safely, especially Hangyul, considering that they had spent most of the dinner chatting and laughing together like old friends. He’s a little jealous, but he also remembers that Seungwoo had been nothing but kind to the younger man once he and Seungwoo fell out. Seungyoun often saw Hangyul waiting by the gym, probably to talk to him, and he had rolled his eyes over Skype when Seungwoo re-enacted Hangyul’s crestfallen expression at the news that Seungyoun had gone to study in China.

‘Text me when you’re home,’ Seungyoun tells Hangyul.

‘Me too,’ Seungwoo says, and Seungyoun shoots Seungwoo a betrayed look. Hangyul doesn’t catch Seungyoun’s expression, focusing only on how Seungwoo had said that to Yohan with a slight croak and he smiles brightly at his friends’ promising love life.

‘Sure,’ Hangyul says, elbowing Yohan.

‘Yes, of course,’ Yohan says.

They leave fairly quickly after that, and Seungwoo willingly volunteers to do the washing up. 

‘Hangyul, huh,’ Seungyoun says, leaning against the cabinets and watching Seungwoo clean up. 

‘He’s a nice guy,’ Seungwoo says. ‘Yohan’s really nice too. Cute, don’t you think?’

‘But Hangyul’s cuter,’ Seungyoun points out, and Seungwoo snorts. He’s really just fishing for confirmation that Seungwoo’s trying to flirt with Hangyul, from the phone number to this entire night, and he sulks as Seungwoo throws back his head and laughs.

‘Never change, Cho Seungyoun.’

♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun nearly cries with laughter when Hangyul sends him a selca of himself with red highlights the next day and Yohan with pink hair, and then he looks a little closer at the twinkle in Hangyul’s eyes, zooms in on the dimples under his eyes, and saves the picture. 

♡♡♡♡

  
  


‘How do you get inspiration?’ Hangyul asks tentatively the next time they meet, and Seungyoun habitually saves the work before spinning in his swivel chair to look at Hangyul face-on. When it’s just bantering conversation, Seungyoun can focus, but there’s a curiosity in Hangyul’s voice that makes Seungyoun want to pay total attention to it.

‘I think I just try to recreate a certain mood, or vibe,’ Seungyoun explains. ‘I write around key words and melodies, and then develop from there.’

Hangyul sighs. ‘You make it sound so easy.’

‘You produce,’ Seungyoun says. ‘Your university minor, right?’

‘It’s general production,’ Hangyul says. ‘So tech stuff as well as music. If you ever need someone to rig your pyrotechnics, I’m your guy.’

‘And co-write my songs,’ Seungyoun adds. Hangyul’s mouth twists in self-doubt.

‘Yeah. One day.’

‘Just think of a particular moment in your life and try to recreate it through song,’ Seungyoun suggests. ‘So say something happened that was really heart-fluttering. You’d try to express that feeling through music, however you think is best.’

‘Bad example.’ Hangyul says with a shrug. ‘I can honestly say I’ve never really had my heart flutter.’

‘Oh,’ Seungyoun says. ‘Really?’

‘Yeah.’

‘But you must’ve liked people before?’ Seungyoun asks. ‘Or at least gone on a date.’

‘Never been on a date,’ Hangyul says lightly, and he’s not embarrassed so he says it confidently. 

‘I mean, with a face like yours, I don’t know how you haven’t been on a date yet.’ Seungyoun says. ‘You’d have been swamped in confe-’

Seungyoun cuts off. 

He almost forgot their past. Indeed, Hangyul had been very popular in school, but he was always hanging out with Seungyoun and was too busy when he was asked out. The year after, Seungyoun isn’t sure. He had moved to China and refused to hear Seungwoo and Wooseok’s attempts at keeping him updated, or their offers of acting as the middlemen to the two of them. He hadn’t wanted to keep up with Hangyul in the slightest, and the physical distance also meant it was easy to avoid any updates on the younger. 

Seungyoun clears his throat. ‘You must have been swamped the year after.’

‘I’ve only liked one person ever,’ Hangyul says quietly, and he closes his eyes as he waits for Seungyoun to realise exactly what he’s saying.

‘You should’ve asked them out,’ Seungyoun chastises instead and Hangyul gapes.

‘I did,’ he says shortly.

Seungyoun pauses. His mouse hovers over the replay button. 

‘That-’ Seungyoun starts, but he stops. He doesn’t know what to say.

‘So yeah,’ Hangyul says uneasily. ‘Suppose I learnt that people aren’t really that willing to go on a date with a dongsaeng that looks- what was it- ten years older than them.’

‘I cannot believe you,’ Seungyoun says, shaking his head. His fists are clenched. ‘It’s been  _ years,  _ and you’re gonna keep pretending?’

‘Pretending...what?’

There’s silence, and it’s long enough for Hangyul to shake his head. He clicks his tongue as he stands up and heads to the door, his hand on the doorknob before Seungyoun lets out a sigh through his nose.

‘I know why you asked me out,’ Seungyoun says, clicking replay harshly. The chill beat fills the room once more, and Seungyoun raises the bass, blinking furiously to stave off the tears. 

‘Yeah,’ Hangyul says slowly, hand sliding off the doorknob, ‘Because I like you-’

‘ _ Because, _ ’ Seungyoun seethes, turning around in his chair, ‘you  _ knew  _ that I was going to say yes, and you would’ve won that bet easily.’

‘What bet?’

‘Don’t play innocent. I know you didn’t mean it,’ Seungyoun snaps. He gets up and strides towards the younger man. ‘I heard you that day- all the kids were betting on who was gonna ask out who, and you practically leapt at the chance to ask me out for a couple of won. I knew, Hangyul-ah,’ and he punctuates Hangyul’s name by pushing his pointer finger into Hangyul’s chest, ‘I knew, so you can stop-’

‘You really think You think I’m the kind of guy that would ask someone out on a date for a bet?’ Hangyul asks instead, all soft and venomous. 

‘Yes.’ Seungyoun answers immediately, and he desperately wills away the tears in his eyes. He watches as Hangyul recoils- but then he shakes his head with a wry grin. 

‘I leapt at the chance because I was too scared to ask you out otherwise.’ Hangyul says, his voice light but his eyes glinting with anger underneath the superficial easygoingness.

‘Bullshit-’ Seungyoun scoffs, but Hangyul just raises his voice as he continues.

‘And even if you did think that,’ Hangyul says, his voice taking on a harsh tone. ‘Do you think that justifies what you said to me?’

‘What?’ Seungyoun says in disbelief. ‘What  _ I  _ said to  _ you _ ?’

‘I don’t like you,’ Hangyul repeats, and these are clearly words that he has memorised. ``I don't like you because you’re old-looking and loud, and not my style. I don't like your weird, low voice. In fact, I hate you.’

‘I was angry.’ Seungyoun argues. ‘and I was lashing out, you cannot seriously be stuck up on that when you  _ took a fucking bet _ -’

‘How are you any better than me,’ Hangyul breathes, and it’s not a question but a statement the way Hangyul says it. The two stare at each other, not wanting to break the tense silence; Seungyoun ignores how there’s tears welling up in Hangyul’s eyes and stops himself from apologising on the spot, especially since he feels much more wronged than Hangyul ever could.

Hangyul mumbles  _ this is pointless,  _ and he turns on his heel and pulls open the door, quietly walking out and closing the door shut in Seungyoun’s face. He thinks he would’ve preferred it if Hangyul had slammed the door and stormed out.

‘Fuck,’ he hisses sharply, with the only sounds left being just the soft, pulsing beat and the sound of his pounding heartbeat.

♡♡♡♡

Wooseok finds him still in the studio the next day, cuddling his knees and staring at dust collecting under his sofa. Out of curiosity, Wooseok pokes Seungyoun with his foot and rolls his eyes as the producer lets gravity take him, crashing onto his side, still curled up in foetal position, and letting out a small whimper.

‘This is sad, Seungyoun-ah,’ Wooseok says. ‘Please leave the house.’

  
  


♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun doesn’t text. He doesn’t go outside either,  _ thank you very much, Wooseok _ , but he does lock himself in his studio as he scribbles thoughts and lyrics for another song- not the beats he was working on with Hangyul. But he can’t shake his thoughts of Hangyul and the revelations that had been brought to light. Even supposing everything Hangyul said was true- that it wasn’t just a cruel prank- it still makes him angry to know that Hangyul didn’t even try to fight for their friendship. He knew that he had lashed out hard, but how could Hangyul think that that was what Seungyoun genuinely thought? The younger man had let Seungyoun stew in his anger, creating this shit show of a situation. 

It also means Hangyul had been genuine in his confession, which Seungyoun would rather not think about too deeply; it had been a long time, so Seungyoun couldn’t confidently say that he liked Hangyul back, but he remembers being enamoured by the boy, remembers thinking about waiting for Hangyul to maybe get a little older (three years wasn’t much, but he would be going to university when Hangyul had barely started studying for the CSAT, and that made him feel a little uneasy). That knowledge was bittersweet, tainting all his memories, and he had to take some time to re-evaluate his school years. He was overly cold, yes, but it wasn’t as if he was the sole villain in the destruction of their friendship. 

Seungyoun gets no texts from Hangyul, so he spends hours just saving, closing and re-opening the files that he’s been working with. After about three days of thinking, he heads outside to a quiet little cafe- and even that makes his heart twinge, as he can’t help but compare how the coffee is made to Hangyul’s brother- and just sits for a while, taking photos. He sticks a headband on, hoping that’s enough to hide his oily roots, and some thick-rimmed glasses. 

The cherry-blossoms are out, and he whistles  _ Cherry Blossom Ending _ to himself as he walks home. There’s a shadow waiting by the gate, and Seungyoun checks to see if Seungwoo forgot his keys again, but the figure seems a little too short to be the older man. He steps closer and closes his eyes as he sees Hangyul swim into view. 

‘You’re going insane,’ he mutters to himself, stepping forward and ignoring the man. Hangyul looks a little too upset in his imagination; the younger man’s hair is all ruffled and his eyes seem a little red-rimmed with lack of sleep behind a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. It’s his own mind trying to get Hangyul to seem more approachable, rather than cold and aloof like he was expecting. 

And Hangyul had been in his imagination all day, really; he had been imagining ways of apologising as well, mostly consisting of him getting down on his knees and doing a deep bow towards the younger, or buying flowers- but that felt too romantic, and they had quite clearly established last night that there was nothing of that sort between them...any more. Perhaps in the past- but no. 

So Seungyoun shakes his head and walks past the figment of his imagination, easily stepping past him and pushing the password into his gate door slightly more aggressively than usual. 

‘The silent treatment, huh.’ Hangyul says wistfully. 

Seungyoun turns in horror to look at the not-so-imaginary figure. Hangyul’s got a wry smile playing about his lips, and he blinks several times as he processes.

‘You’re really here,’ Seungyoun says incredulously. 

‘Yes?’ 

Hangyul pushes himself off the wall and pulls something out from behind his back. Seungyoun’s gaze snaps down to the small flower-pot that the younger man is holding. 

‘Consider this an olive branch,’ Hangyul explains quietly, ‘except it’s a grass-head.’

Seungyoun stares at the gift. It’s a potato-esque lump of soil with bright green grass sprouting from the top of its head, googly eyes, a black pipe cleaner for glasses and a red pipe-cleaner making up the nose and mouth. 

‘You hate it.’ Hangyul says after too long of a silence. 

‘No,’ Seungyoun says, but his voice catches on something in his throat that makes it sound insincere. He takes it with trembling hands.

‘The vendor is selling animal versions too,’ Hangyul says defeatedly. ‘I saw a fox one. I can go exchange it for you now.’ 

Seungyoun’s still quiet, locked in a staring contest with the grass-head as he thinks, and Hangyul leans towards the taller man to snatch the gift from his hands- but Seungyoun is quicker, and raises it above Hangyul’s head, leaving the younger man to lurch into Seungyoun’s personal space, his face just as close to his as it was last night. 

Hangyul’s eyes are wide and confused.

‘Okay,’ Seungyoun says. He averts his gaze. ‘We- yeah, we can go to the vendor. I’ll choose what to exchange it with.’

‘Sure,’ Hangyul says easily, stepping back out of Seungyoun’s space. He does a quick up-down of Seungyoun before turning on his heel and leading the way to the market, walking fairly quickly as if embarrassed. Seungyoun lets out a fond smile, knowing that the younger man wasn’t watching, and he follows, relatively familiar with where Hangyul should be taking them. 

The walk is quiet, meaning that Hangyul’s really nervous- he normally would be commenting idly on the brisk air, or the beautiful sunset, but instead he just walks resolutely forward. There’s a moment when Seungyoun feels his heart stop as Hangyul turns around to face him, cheerfully pointing out the cherry blossom tree, but Hangyul doesn’t say anything beyond ‘ _ hyung, look!’ _ . 

Once they make it to the marketplace, Hangyul looks around in horror to see that the vendor had gone despite it having barely been an hour since Hangyul bought it.

‘Give it back,’ Hangyul says to Seungyoun, marching back up to him. The older man had lagged behind the whole time, meaning there was a few feet of space between them. He manages to get close before he notices Seungyoun stroking the small tufts of hair and he pauses. 

‘What-’

‘I can come back tomorrow and change it-’

‘Don’t touch Shiba without my permission!’ Seungyoun screeches as Hangyul lunges for the grass head once more, lifting it above Hangyul’s head with a pout. ‘I like him a lot.’

‘Shiba?’ Hangyul repeats incredulously. ‘A dog?’

‘I can’t get pets.’ Seungyoun says.

‘Seungyoun, you own your house, you could get a pet if you wanted.’

‘I’m not replacing Shiba.’

Hangyul rolls his eyes, but Seungyoun can sense that there’s no malice in the action. Maybe he had truly fixed this situation, and gained a fun new gift in return. 

‘Since we’re out,’ Seungyoun says bashfully, ‘do you wanna get ramyeon? We’re not far from the Han River, and it’s not too cold. I’ll pay.’

‘Only because you’re paying,’ Hangyul says with a grin. 

It’s true- they aren’t far from the river, barely a ten minute walk, and the air is crisp but not so cold. Besides, both of them are in thick jumpers, with Seungyoun in a warm-toned knit and bomber jacket and Hangyul in a horrific neon green shirt over a tight striped long-sleeved henley with a turtleneck. 

Seungyoun’s first in the convenience store, and he picks up a yukgaejang ramyeon with no hesitation, deliberating on his own before settling on a new mala ramyeon. There’s sausages as well, and rice cakes and fish balls, and he goes a little crazy in the Lays section. He also picks two large cans of beer (the brand he knows Hangyul likes) and some Sprite. Between the two of them they’ll eat a lot, and Seungyoun had forgotten to eat anything except that fancy looking cake earlier at the cafe. 

‘Trust me,’ Seungyoun says as he pays, going to the hot water machines outside. He fumbles as he opens both ramyeon containers and Hangyul appears to the side of him, chopsticks in hand. The younger man wordlessly takes the tote bag containing everything but the ramyeon from him, and smiles softly as Seungyoun quietly thanks him. 

‘Where do you wanna sit?’ Seungyoun asks as he scans the barcode. Hangyul points to an area nearby- the river isn’t really in sight from there, which defeats the purpose of eating at the Han River, but it’s surprisingly quiet and boxed off by the cherry blossom trees, which Seungyoun decides is well worth not seeing the rippling water for. Once the hot water pours into both containers, Seungyoun takes the yukgaejang ramyeon and speeds off, giggling as Hangyul starts cursing; the faster the younger man walks, the more mala scent wafts into his nose, which was unbearable for him as he can’t handle spice, but it was too hot to walk slowly. 

Seungyoun sits down and watches in amusement as Hangyul eventually makes his way over and sits down. He slides over the yukgaejang ramyeon to Hangyul, who fixes him with a playful glare as he complains. They open the snacks and choose their toppings, and both let out a hearty exhale at the first slurp of their noodles. 

‘Do you really like the grass head?’ Hangyul asks curiously, looking up at Seungyoun under his eyelashes. Seungyoun beams.

‘ _ Shiba.’  _ Seungyoun corrects, blowing on his noodles. ‘And yes, I really do. What made you decide on it though?’

‘Looks like you,’ Hangyul replies off-handedly, and Seungyoun gapes. Hangyul raises an eyebrow as Seungyoun takes the plant out of his jacket pocket and turns to him, face neutral to get the best side-by-side comparison. Hangyul sniffs and pulls out his phone, quickly snapping a picture of the two, and he shows it to Seungyoun smugly. 

‘Even has the glasses, hyung,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun has to admit that something about the twist of the mouth looks similar. 

‘I don’t look like a potato thing,’ Seungyoun protests feebly, and he decides to stop himself from talking by eating more noodles.

‘Don’t disrespect potatoes,’ Hangyul says. He shakes the packet of Lay’s in front of them. ‘These are potatoes, and they look fine to me.’

Seungyoun brightens at the indirect compliment, but then he flushes aggressively as he remembers  _ I’ve only liked one person though _ . Hangyul seems to catch up to Seungyoun’s train of thought, as his ears grow darker (it’s dark, but Seungyoun would bet that they were turning red). 

‘The only difference is that you’ve grown taller,’ Hangyul continues, powering on through the sudden awkwardness, and he leans forward and stamps Seungyoun’s forehead with his thumb, an action that the two of them used to do when they were younger instead of pinky promises. Seungyoun’s eyes widen at the sudden influx of nostalgia, and Hangyul giggles to himself.

‘It was all in the past,’ he says tentatively. ‘We don’t- I mean, I guess that’s why we don’t get on. But we could- I don’t know- we could both agree to move on and be functioning adults about this whole situation.’

‘We both fucked up,’ Seungyoun agrees with a nod, grasping at this explanation. ‘But don’t make me promise to be a functioning adult, geez.’

Hangyul lets out a bark of laughter, which he doesn’t bother stifling. 

‘Fair enough. I should’ve known,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun cocks his head.

‘What does that mean?’

‘Hyung, you didn’t even try to text me.’ Hangyul replies with a pout. Seungyoun splutters, nearly dropping a chopstick- now that would be a disaster- but he dies down at Hangyul’s dismissive wave. 

_ Just a joke, Seungyoun.  _

‘Truce?’ Hangyul asks.

‘Nah.’ Seungyoun replies. ‘Friends.’

‘I can do that,’ Hangyul says with a bright toothy grin.

♡♡♡♡

One time, Seungyoun texts Hangyul at six am. 

There’s no real reasoning behind it; he personally hadn’t actually fallen asleep yet, and an errant thought had popped into his mind ( _ hangyul-ah / if a  _ _ piñata _ _ doesn’t break, it’s broken / isn’t that crazy _ ). He raises an eyebrow as the message is immediately read, and then his phone begins to buzz with a phone call. 

‘Hello?’

‘What’s that?’ Hangyul asks. He sounds surprisingly alert, but he’s breathing heavier than usual.

‘What’s what?’

‘The pin thing,’ Hangyul admits. ‘My English isn’t very good, and then you threw in the crazy squiggle thing-’

Seungyoun giggles. ‘The  _ til _ ?’

‘I- Seungyoun-ssi, are you trying to t _ ease  _ me?’

‘If I said yes?’

‘I’d say that’s cruel,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun can practically hear Hangyul pouting. ‘I’m your employer, the reason you have a job, your manager-’

Seungyoun can barely hear Hangyul over his own laughter, and when he eventually stops laughing Hangyul talks again.

‘You’re awake really early.’

‘I didn’t actually go to sleep,’ Seungyoun confesses. ‘I worked on our song until about an hour ago, and I was too excited to sleep. Why are you up?’

‘Jaehyun has to bake early in the morning,’ Hangyul says. ‘He woke me up.’

‘And you couldn’t wait to hear my sweet, sweet voice?’ Seungyoun asks, wiggling his eyebrows and he can hear Hangyul sigh.

‘Actually, I can’t really text right now, I’m jogging.’

‘Right now?’

‘Yeah.’ 

Seungyoun listens closely and yep, that’s the sound of feet hitting pavement, as well as that explaining Hangyul’s heavier breathing.

‘Wanna join me?’ 

‘Oh. I don’t really like jogging.’

‘I knew it.’ Hangyul sniffs. ‘All those muscles, just for show.’

‘Hey, now-’

‘What’s the point of a six-pack if you can’t open the kimchi jar-’

‘It was really on really tight-’

‘What’s the point of leg day if you can’t run five miles?’

‘So you don’t look like a chicken!’ 

‘But who has better thighs between the two of us?’ Hangyul asks smugly, and Seungyoun can’t even come up with a comeback.

‘The only appropriate shoes I have are the heavy football ones, with the spikes and everything’ Seungyoun admits. ‘Not exactly perfect for jogging.’

‘Wear your Converse, we can just walk.’ 

‘Buy me a coffee,’ Seungyoun counters, and he can hear Hangyul shrug.

‘I know a place that does good coffee and has a pretty barista,’ the younger man says cheekily. 

Hangyul rings the doorbell ten minutes later and Seungyoun answers the door quickly, having barely slipped on his shoes. He’s wearing the Converse that Hangyul suggested, as well as his usual headband and glasses. He opens the door and blinks rapidly.

‘Aren’t you cold?’ he asks Hangyul, who’s in just a white tank top and baggy tracksuit bottoms. He resolutely ignores the curve of Hangyul’s biceps.

‘I did just run across the bridge.’ Hangyul replies amusedly.

Seungyoun’s just about to leave with Hangyul when he runs back inside and grabs the two tumblers he had left on the kitchen island, both of them filled with instant coffee that Seungyoun had just quickly thrown together only a few minutes ago, and he hands Hangyul the bright yellow one.

‘Coffee.’ Seungyoun explains, and they begin to walk out together. Hangyul takes the tumbler with a smile, and he takes a sip from it before he talks.

‘I thought I was buying it for you, not you giving it to me.’ 

‘Hangyul, I literally have not slept yet, I need all the caffeine I can get.’

Hangyul wrinkles his nose. ‘Gross, hyung. I went to bed at like, ten.’

‘That’s early.’

‘Yeah, Seungwoo-hyung is letting me use the big training rooms in the gym to choreograph, so I was in there for most of the day with Yohan.I just passed out when I got home.’

‘Ah,’ Seungyoun says, sipping from his own drink. It tastes a lot more bitter than he remembers, and he reminds himself to splurge on the fancy Japanese brand of instant coffee next time. 

‘You wouldn't know anything about why Seungwoo-hyung keeps asking me about my ideal first date?’ Hangyul asks with a raised eyebrow, clearly fishing for an answer, and Seungyoun misses his straw the next time he tries to drink. There’s a weird feeling in the pit of his gut at the idea of Seungwoo and Hangyul on a date. 

‘I think it’s because I’m similar to Yohan.’ Hangyul continues with a small smile, and Seungyoun raises an eyebrow. He doesn’t quite follow Hangyul’s train of thought, 

‘You’re different,’ Seungyoun says, shaking his head. 

‘Not that different from Yohan.’

‘I’d take you bowling and Yohan to a sports game,’ Seungyoun says decisively. ‘That’s very different.’

Hangyul looks a little red at that, but Seungyoun figures it’s from the slight cold of the morning as well as the fact that the younger man was effectively cooling down from his morning exercise. 

‘You remembered I like bowling?’ Hangyul asks softly.

‘I can’t forget my defeats,’ Seungyoun replies lightly. ‘You wiped the floor with me.’

Hangyul hums to himself.

‘I’d take you to a special cafe,’ he says decisively, looking off into the distance. ‘One of the instagram cafes.’

‘That would be nice,’ Seungyoun says. It really would- Seungyoun’s a sucker for nice atmospheres, finding them calming and inspiring at the same time. 

‘Don’t be too disappointed when I take you to Jaehyun-hyung’s coffeeshop,’ Hangyul jokes. 

They eventually make it to the bridge, and Hangyul’s right- the sunrise really is beautiful. They’re taking their time walking, so they get to fully experience the way the pink melts into the blue sky, and how the sunlight streams through the fluffy white clouds. Seungyoun fumbles for his phone immediately, opening his camera app to take a picture. Hangyul pauses to wait for him. 

Seungyoun takes several pictures, adjusting the focus and whatever filter he wants to put on it, and he looks forward to Hangyul who’s just watching him quietly. Between the golden glow of the sunrise and Hangyul’s fond smile, Seungyoun can’t resist quickly snapping a picture of the younger man too, capturing the transformation from candid to playfully outraged.

They chat about many things on the way to the coffee-shop, from favourite movies to Seungyoun’s years in China and Brazil, to favourite music. At some point, Seungyoun brings out his airpods and offers one to Hangyul, and Seungyoun flicks through his favourite songs as a recommendation to Hangyul. There’s a particularly strong breeze and Seungyoun shrugs off his jacket and offers it to Hangyul- it fits along the shoulders, since both of them are pretty broad, but the sleeves run a little long and the hem sits awkwardly on Hangyul’s waist. 

‘Iced americano, right?’ Hangyul checks once they reach the familiar coffee-shop, and Seungyoun nods before he finds a table somewhere near the back, handing . The coffee comes fairly quickly, and Hangyul smiles brightly as he heads to Seungyoun with the refillable coffee cup being filled to the brim in his hand.

‘You picked my table!’ he says excitedly. ‘I always pick this table when I come here with Yohan.’

‘Guess I’ve got good taste then,’ Seungyoun says, and he reaches out and makes grabby hand motions for the coffee. Hangyul doesn’t hand it over, instead sniffing it before wrinkling his nose and handing it over.

‘Jaehyun-hyung made it really strong,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun beams. He takes a long gulp and lets out an  _ ahh  _ of satisfaction.

‘So,’ Seungyoun starts. ‘Do you do this every day?’

‘Most days,’ Hangyul says with a shrug. ‘I normally go to the gym in the morning, but I’ve started going with Yohan. You know we changed to Seungwoo-hyung’s gym?’

Seungyoun nods, masking his annoyance at Seungwoo being mentioned yet again. 

‘What do you think of it?’ Seungyoun asks politely. Hangyul shrugs.

‘It’s nice. A lot of flirting though.’ He shudders. ‘It’s distracting.’

‘When I was on the football team in Brazil, the team would make us get to practice two hours early to watch the cheerleaders.’ Seungyoun says with a shrug. ‘I get what you mean.’

‘Oh man, it’s the worst.’ Hangyul says with a laugh. ‘When Jiyeon-noona did track at school, people would literally become my friend just so that they could talk to her.’

‘Wait, really?’

‘Yeah. It, uh. It got worse when we weren’t friends,’ Hangyul says, hesitating over the mention of their past, but Seungyoun just nods and waves it aside. ‘But people would find out that  _ I’m _ the youngest brother in my family, and then use a potential friendship with me to ask them out.’

Seungyoun gapes. ‘You always seemed so social.’

‘You were watching?’ Hangyul smirks, and raises an eyebrow, before his face falls back into a pensive one. ‘I mean, I was. I had a lot of friends by the end of high school. But the only one that didn’t try to hit on Jaehyun-hyung or Jiyeon-noona was Yohan. It kinda made me dislike good-looking people for a while, to the point where I kind of hated Seungwoo-hyung in high school. Yohan made us watch him practicing a  _ lot _ .’

‘You’re good-looking though,’ Seungyoun points out. 

‘Ew.’

‘You know what I mean.’

Hangyul shrugs. ‘I suppose it was more the treatment they got. I was probably more approachable than my siblings, I don’t think I’m actually that attractive.’

Seungyoun chokes on his drink.

‘You’re kidding,’ Seungyoun says. 

‘Eh. I’m okay. I still probably look too old.’

Seungyoun’s still recovering when he purses his lips in thought. ‘Is it because of what I told you when you. You know.’

‘Confessed?’ Hangyul asks with a wry smile. ‘Maybe a little. I’m really over it though.’

‘I really want to apologise for that though,’ Seungyoun says. 

‘Please don’t,’ Hangyul says, and his tone conveys genuine horror.

‘Your voice is charming and you kind of grew into your face,’ Seungyoun begins, and Hangyul’s eyes widen as he realises what’s happening and he sticks his fingers into his ears and begins singing loudly. He exaggeratedly closes his eyes and cracks one open a good ten seconds after, and he nods as he realises Seungyoun’s stopped and is just laughing quietly to himself.

‘I’m really glad this happened,’ Seungyoun confesses, and Hangyul smiles.

‘Me too.’

‘I have to be honest: when you texted me, I had a feeling that it was gonna be you.’

‘Hangyul isn’t exactly a common name,’ Hangyul says amusedly. ‘Why’d you still choose to work with me?’

‘Two reasons.’ Seungyoun says. ‘Firstly...I’m not exactly expected to run the family businesses, I’m not CEO material, but I don’t want to be leeching off my family’s wealth whilst I play around. I’m really passionate about music, and I want to pursue it seriously, and I thought that this would be a good way to network. Also, I think I kind of missed you.’

‘We haven’t talked in six years,’ Hangyul says in a small voice, and Seungyoun purses his lips in thought.

‘Doesn’t feel like it,’ Seungyoun points out. ‘I think I was tired of being angry at you. It felt unfair to be angry at you for something that happened when you were sixteen. And then we talked-’

‘Argued.’ Hangyul corrects.

‘-yes, we argued, and we’ve worked past it and we’re friends now, and I’m really glad that happened. I can’t really imagine not being your friend, I don’t know how we did it.’

‘This is so cheesy,’ Hangyul mutters.

‘Ah, isn’t it sweet?’ Seungyoun asks, and he exaggeratedly bats his eyelashes and pulls his shoulder forward, adopting a sweet aegyo-like tone. ‘I really like you, Hangyul-ah-’

‘Oh my god,’ Hangyul says, fixing Seungyoun with a judging look. ‘I can’t be seen with you.’

Seungyoun pouts as well, and Hangyul exhales slowly.

‘I’ll get you a pastry if you stop doing aegyo.’

‘Call,’ Seungyoun says, immediately slouching back in the chair and returning to his normal voice. ‘Your brother does a really nice cookie.’

‘Of course, your majesty,’ Hangyul says grandly, getting up from his chair. He drops into a formal bow and Seungyoun laughs at Hangyul’s posture that mimics an old-fashioned butler, and his almost aggressively-polite tone. 

Hangyul manages to talk Jaehyun into giving him the biggest chocolate-chip cookie, promising to take up more shifts in the future, and he turns to look at Seungyoun who’s absorbed in his phone in the wait. 

‘Your date is going to ruin my business,’ Jaehyun grumbles as he plates the cookie.

‘Not a date,’ Hangyul corrects.

‘Sure,’ Jaehyun responds with a knowing look. ‘I like your jacket, Hangyul-ah, where did you get it from?’

‘Shut up,’ Hangyul mutters and he takes the plate and heads back to his table without a look back at Jaehyun. All he can hear is cackling from behind him, and he slides the plate to Seungyoun and sits down.

‘What’s so funny?’ Seungyoun asks, looking up from his phone at Hangyul. Jaehyun’s still laughing in the background, and Hangyul rolls his eyes at his brother.

‘Jaehyun’s just telling me I’m short,’ Hangyul lies. 

Seungyoun snorts and begins to eat the cookie, and the corners of Hangyul’s lips twitch as he thinks: it certainly feels like a date, but they had just spent a good portion of the conversation celebrating the rekindling of their friendship, as well as their prior agreement to ignore the mess that was Hangyul’s confession in high school. But the more time he spends with Seungyoun, the harder it becomes to ignore the familiar feelings of a crush- the older man is effortlessly funny, supportive, and talented, and Hangyul feels the same way he did back in high school, but with the added knowledge that Seungyoun had become even better as a person, and even hotter. It was going to be difficult to draw the line, Hangyul acknowledges, but he figures it’s just his body remembering what it’s like to be around Seungyoun.

And besides. The track was in the final stages, and whilst Hangyul was very pleased with the product and was excited to start properly choreographing to it, it felt bittersweet; he had spent the past few nights lying in bed, worrying about whether Seungyoun would actually want to hangout once they were finished. The conversation they had just had had done a lot to ease his nerves, but ultimately Hangyul would rather worry about losing a friendship than losing a crush.

‘I think we’ll be finished next week,’ Seungyoun says around the third bite of the cookie.

‘Great,’ Hangyul says through a strained smile.

♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun listens to the track, his eyes closed and head buried in his arms, then he listens again, and again, looks at Hangyul’s pleased face, and clicks save. 

_ And just like that _ , he thinks. The piece that took three weeks, that brought them from estranged childhood enemies to friends, and Seungyoun would even say good friends, all finished in a single click. What should happen next would be for them to cheer, for Seungyoun to send Hangyul the .mp3 file, and for them to keep in idle contact before never talking again. He expects this, so he takes out the headphones in his ear, unplugs the headphones from the splitter connected to the computer, stands up, stretches out his arms and grins impishly down at a surprised looking Hangyul. 

‘I have soju in the fridge,’ Seungyoun says. ‘Celebration?’

‘Oh, god, yes,’ Hangyul says.

Seungyoun typically doesn’t like drinking to the point of getting drunk, but something about it just being the two of them makes Seungyoun want to keep the night going and enjoy it. They order food at some point to offset the alcohol, but Hangyul had become tipsier a lot earlier than Seungyoun. He hadn’t pegged the younger man to have such a low tolerance (after three shots, Hangyul had started slurring slightly and a pink flush had spread across his cheeks). 

‘Are you gonna be able to go home?’ Seungyoun asks suddenly. He’s not thinking very rationally, being drunker than he’s used to, but he’s ready to let Hangyul stay the night. ‘Can Yohanie pick you up?’

‘Yohan’s on a  _ date, _ ’ Hangyul pouts. ‘I can’t ask him to pick me up. I’ll just walk home, it’s okay. I’m a big strong man.’

‘Oh, so cool,’ Seungyoun crows. His alcohol-soaked brain accepts Hangyul’s reasoning immediately, and he’s excited to have Hangyul for himself for even longer.

‘I wanna be on a date.’ Hangyul says softly.

‘You could go on a date,’ Seungyoun says indignantly. 

The room’s moving very slowly around Hangyul, and he lets a dopey smile spread across his face. Hangyul was so  _ cute _ .

‘Only wanna date one person,’ Hangyul says sadly. ‘But we’re just friends.’

‘Whoever doesn’t wanna date you is st-stupid,’ Seungyoun says, pointing at Hangyul. ‘You’re great.’

‘You’re not stupid,’ Hangyul moans, burying his head in his crossed arms on the table, and Seungyoun giggles at the sudden compliment.

‘I’m a genius,’ he agrees.

‘You’re really hot,’ Hangyul says from somewhere within his crossed arms. 

‘A hot genius,’ Seungyoun says brightly.

‘You’re all funny and talented and hot,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun’s brain finally catches up with the words that Hangyul’s actually saying.

‘Wait,’ Seungyoun says. Hangyul makes a noise of embarrassment and Seungyoun drags Hangyul’s head up and places his index finger on Hangyul’s plush lips, shushing the younger man.

‘Seungyounie needs to think,’ he says seriously, and Hangyul nods.

His brain moves sluggishly, but he recognises a confession when he gets one. He’s never felt so excited before, and he allows himself to enjoy the sudden wave of fondness and warmth that he feels by leaning forward and replacing his finger on Hangyul’s lips with his own.

Objectively, it is a terrible kiss.

It’s sloppy technique on Seungyoun’s behalf, being more teeth and tongue in unbalanced quantities, and he’s also pretty sure Hangyul still has his eyes open. He opens his own eyes to check, and the two make eye-contact as Hangyul deepens the kiss, and Seungyoun can’t help but laugh into Hangyul’s mouth.

‘Wait, do that again,’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun readily does so.

The second time is slightly better, but they both stick very much to a long, close-mouthed kiss, an overcompensation to their first kiss. Seungyoun’s eyes flutter closed as he adjusts the angle ever so slightly and then-

_ I want that one. _

‘Fuck,’ Seungyoun hisses, breaking apart from Hangyul. The younger man chases after the kiss with a pout, and he cracks an eye open.

‘I’m normally much better at kissing,’ Hangyul says, but Seungyoun groans. The memory of Seungwoo’s declaration acts as a sudden splash of cold water on him, and he winces at his sudden feeling of sobriety.

‘Seungwoo-hyung,’ Seungyoun says, and Hangyul is stunned into silence.

‘I- what?’

‘Hangyul,’ Seungyoun says, desperate to convey how truly sorry he is. ‘Hangyul, I am so sorry.’

‘What?’

‘You’re not a hoe,’ Seungyoun hiccups, ‘b-but like. Seungwoo’s my bro, you know? Bros before hoes? But you’re not a hoe, you’re really nice, and being a hoe isn’t bad-’

‘Seungwoo-hyung?’ Hangyul asks. Seungyoun nods.

‘Seungwoo-hyung.’

‘Seungyoun, that’s really not an answer.’

‘It is!’ Seungyoun declares. ‘Seungwoo-hyung really, like. Listen. I can’t say. It’s not my place. But just know I can’t kiss you and date you because of Seungwoo-hyung.’

Hangyul’s staring at Seungyoun with the most confused face, before he nods and finishes his shot and immediately pours himself another one and takes it.

‘Okay,’ Hangyul mutters. ‘Okay.’

‘Thank you for understanding,’ Seungyoun says. ‘I think you’re great though.’

‘Okay,’ Hangyul says. 

They sit in awkward silence for ten more minutes, with Seungyoun just watching Hangyul eat all of the food in front of them with single-handed determination, both of them thinking deeply. Hangyul’s phone keeps blowing up with notifications, and Hangyul seems to be in physical pain every time he replies to it. Suddenly Hangyul’s phone rings, and he picks it up by accident.

Seungyoun’s barely listening, but he can hear Hangyul being summoned away by someone.

‘My noona,’ Hangyul says once he hangs up.

‘Hi noona,’ Seungyoun mumbles, and Hangyul nods sagely.

‘She says we’ve ran out of soy sauce,’ Hangyul says slowly, his mind still processing Jiyeon’s request. ‘I need to go and get some.’

‘Take mine,’ Seungyoun says with a dramatic wave of his hand.

‘You need soy sauce.’

‘I don’t cook.’

‘I’ll just buy some.’

‘It can be my apology for kissing you.’ Seungyoun says. ‘Sorry I kissed you, here’s some soy sauce.’

Hangyul nods again, this time sadly, and he gets up on his feet and shuffles to the door. He doesn’t close the door behind him, and Seungyoun leans further back as he hears Hangyul move around his kitchen, taking his full bottle of soy sauce and then stumbling to put his shoes back on and then leaving the house.

The door clicks closed and Seungyoun his eyes.

‘Text me when you get home,’ he calls, before he realises that Hangyul’s already gone.

♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun wakes up to a pulsating headache and every noise sounding like nails on a chalkboard. He struggles out of his room and into the living room, where he sees Seungwoo calmly sipping from his cup of coffee, and Seungyoun collapses onto his knees in front of the actor. 

‘I am  _ so  _ sorry,’ he croaks. ‘I am a horrible person.’

‘I’m sure,’ Seungwoo says. ‘Are you hungover?’

_ ‘So _ hungover,’ Seungyoun says. 

‘I have painkillers-’

‘This is more important than painkillers.’ Seungyoun says loudly, and that’s enough to cause the side of his head to twang in pain. 

‘Okay,’ Seungwoo says slowly. ‘You wanna talk?’

‘Yes,’ Seungyoun says. He inhales. ‘I was with Hangyul last night.’

He waits for Seungwoo to blow up in anger or jealousy, but instead he just gets an eyebrow raise and another loud slurp of coffee.

‘I was with Hangyul last night,’ Seungyoun repeats, ‘and he told me that he likes me, so I kissed him.’

And again, he waits for Seungwoo’s reaction, only to get a nonplussed signal to continue. 

‘But I- I thought of you right after I kissed him, and I know you’re interested in Hangyul and I’ve been an awful friend to you, for- for essentially taking your man, and I let him know that I couldn’t kiss him more because of  _ you- _ ’

The guest bedroom door creaks open and Seungyoun watches in horror as Yohan wanders out of it, wearing sweatpants (that may be Seungwoo’s because they cling a little to Yohan’s thighs) that ride low on his hips and no shirt, displaying a truly spectacular line of hickies winding from his neck down to his adonis belt. 

‘Holy shit,’ Seungyoun breathes.

‘Oh,’ Yohan says surprisedly. ‘Hey, hyung. Sorry if we were, uh, loud.’

‘I don’t think Seungyounie noticed,’ Seungwoo says amusedly and he takes another sip from his coffee. Yohan walks into the living room and shyly drops a kiss into Seungwoo’s messy hair.

‘What about Hangyul?’ Seungyoun asks, and Seungwoo quirks his head.

‘What  _ about  _ Hangyul?’ he inquires. Yohan takes a gulp from Seungwoo’s coffee and winces at how bitter it is.

‘You said- you said you wanted Hangyul?’ Seungyoun asks. He rocks back onto his heels and stands up, putting his own hand into his hair in confusion. 

‘When?’

‘I can go,’ Yohan interjects, but Seungwoo raises a hand, not taking his eyes off Seungyoun. 

‘I’m not done with you.’ Seungwoo says definitively, and Yohan flushes and squirms pleasedly. Seungwoo narrows his eyes at Seungyoun. 

‘You can’t use Yohan like this if you want Hangyul-’ Seungyoun begins, but Seungwoo makes a noise of confusion.

‘I took Yohan on a date last night,’ he replies amusedly. ‘I’m not using anyone. Why do you think I want Hangyul?’

‘The reunion,’ Seungyoun splutters. ‘Hangyul walked in and you said, I quote,  _ I want that one. _ ’

‘Hyung, I don’t want to sound cocky, but I was there too.’ Yohan says softly and Seungyoun’s eyes widen.

‘You literally saw Yohan and said he had grown taller,’ Seungwoo adds incredulously.

‘I didn’t know we were talking about  _ Yohan, _ ’ Seungyoun says embarrassedly. ‘I thought you were talking about Hangyul because- well, because…’ 

‘You were projecting?’ Seungwoo suggests. Yohan chuckles and sits down at the table, next to Seungwoo. 

‘No,’ Seungyoun protests, and Yohan shrugs.

‘Kinda.’ Yohan says. It’s beginning to click why Wooseok was always so amused by Seungyoun’s constant mentioning of Hangyul whenever Seungwoo alluded to Yohan.

And Seungyoun’s mind screeches to a half.

‘Fuck,’ he breathes. ‘I turned Hangyul down.’

There’s silence as all three of them process Seungyoun’s realisation, and it’s interrupted only by Seungwoo’s burst of laughter. 

‘You’re an idiot,’ he says, his voice radiating pure mischief. ‘You turned him down because of me?’

‘Oh my god,’ Yohan mutters. ‘You two deserve each other.’

‘I need to go find him,’ Seungyoun says quickly. 

‘Obviously.’ Seungwoo says. ‘Shower before you go though. You smell bad and you look even worse.’

Yohan’s phone rings not even five minutes later, when Seungyoun’s taken the quickest shower in his life and ran out the door with sopping wet hair. Yohan answers it with a smug grin as Seungwoo pulls him into his lap.

‘I’m very happy for you,’ Hangyul says immediately. ‘It was about time Seungwoo-hyung made a move.’

‘What about you?’ Yohan asks slyly. 

‘What about me?’

‘It’s about time  _ you _ made a move-’ 

Hangyul hangs up. 

♡♡♡♡

Hangyul wakes up with a pounding headache and a heart that hurts even more. The events of last night were humiliating, to say the least, and probably convoluted enough to fill a drama- to Seungyoun whispering Seungwoo’s name right after his kisses with Hangyul, to Yohan’s gleeful texts keeping him updated on his first official date with Seungwoo…

It’s clear. Seungyoun’s in love with Seungwoo. 

It even explains why Seungyoun got drunk so fast the previous night, seeing as Seungwoo was in the middle of a date with Yohan. But Hangyul tries not to say anything to Yohan, because it makes his head hurt to think about the relationships between the four of them; all he knows is that he’s very happy for his best friend, and heartbroken both for and by the man he really likes. 

He trudges down to the kitchen, following the smell of food wafting from the kitchen, and he pulls up a chair at the dining table when he sees Jiyeon cooking. Jaehyun’s waiting at the table as well, looking just as hungover. 

‘Rough night?’ Jaehyun asks. It’s more of a hypothetical; both the brothers have messy hair and swollen eyes.

‘I hate love.’ Hangyul says as a reply. 

Both his older siblings raise a fist in understanding, and Jiyeon slides a grilled cheese to Jaehyun and starts making another one. Once the bread is in the pan to toast, she turns to face both of her brothers sitting at the table.

‘Dohyon?’ Hangyul asks.

‘Training.’ Jiyeon says. ‘Do you want coffee?’

Hangyul shakes his head. 

‘I’m pretty awake,’ he says. ‘I’m probably going to go to the orphanage later, do some volunteering. Clear my mind.’

‘Running away,’ Jaehyun mutters into his cup, and Hangyul snorts.

‘Damn right.’ he admits.

‘Don’t listen to your brother,’ Jiyeon says amusedly. ‘Jaehyunnie’s currently going through his own emotional crisis.’

‘Runs in the family,’ Hangyul says. ‘What’s wrong with Johnny?’

‘Have I been dating him all this time?’ Jaehyun asks after swallowing, and Hangyul’s eyes widen.

‘You didn’t know?’

‘Fuck,’ Jaehyun hisses. 

‘What’s wrong with you?’ Jiyeon asks Hangyul, sliding him his grilled cheese and Hangyul groans. 

‘I think Seungyoun’s in love with Seungwoo, who just got together with Yohan.’

‘Do you want some vodka in your coffee?’ Jiyeon asks, her own way of expressing pity, and Hangyul chokes on his sandwich.

‘That’s rough,’ Jaehyun adds. ‘I take back what I said, you could run away to Madagascar and I’d understand.’

‘Hangyul, he’s an idiot. Jaehyun, you’re an idiot.’ Jiyeon says, pouring herself a cup of coffee and taking one long sip from it. She ignores Jaehyun’s plaintive  _ noona _ .

‘I’m not leaving until past lunchtime.’ she continues, ‘and I’ll be back. Don’t wait up for me though.’

‘What are you doing?’ Hangyul asks curiously.

‘Between the three of us, somebody has to be lucky in love,’ she says smugly. 

‘I have faith in Dohyon.’ Jaehyun says softly, and Jiyeon shoots Jaehyun a scalding look as Hangyul exhales sharply through his nose.

‘That boy is going to either marry his piano or a rice cooker,’ Hangyul says. 

They finish their brunch in comfortable silence after that. Jaehyun and Jiyeon take their time, but the second Hangyul’s finished, he heads upstairs to wash his face, pulling on his comfiest lilac jumper and sweatpants that he usually reserves for dance practice, a mask and a beanie to hide his unkempt hair, puts his essentials- phone, keys, wallet- into his pockets and heads downstairs. 

‘What time are you coming back?’ Jaehyun asks before Hangyul heads out the door. 

‘Dunno,’ Hangyul says. ‘Wanna keep myself busy. I’ll text you.’

‘Uh,’ Jaehyun says. ‘Don’t worry about it. I might not be coming home tonight.’

Hangyul pauses, and his eyebrows raise.

‘Did you text Johnny in the five minutes I spent showering?’ he asks suspiciously.

‘No, Jiyeon did.’ He looks Hangyul in the eye. ‘Run, before she texts Seungyoun for you.’

Hangyul’s out the door immediately.

♡♡♡♡

Seungyoun buzzes the intercom and waits. 

He decided to drive, thinking that running would probably be quicker but also ruins his chances of turning up looking suave and heart-fluttering- he would just look like a hot sweaty mess (and not in a good way). So he drove, found a good parking spot right outside the house that he knows Hangyul lives in, from having visited several times when he was younger, and marvels at how it hasn’t changed at all. 

There’s a crisp  _ who is it _ and Seungyoun clears his throat and answers with his name. He’s a little thrown off by the female voice, but remembers Hangyul talking fondly about his noona as well, so he quickly dismisses his initial jealousy.

Rather than lean against his car, he chooses to sit down on the steps leading up to the yellow double doors. He’s kind of expecting to wait for long, since Yohan didn’t sound confident that Hangyul would actually willingly talk to him, but to his surprise the doors yank open. He nearly falls backwards, but he quickly regains his sense of balance and practically bounces up.

‘Hi,’ he says breathily, his heart leaping at the sight of a male figure, and then his mouth twists downwards as he’s met with Jaehyun. 

‘Hi, Seungyoun-ssi,’ Jaehyun says.

‘Is, uh,’ Seungyoun starts, and he trails off when Jiyeon appears from behind Jaehyun. 

‘He’s not here,’ Jiyeon says, and Seungyoun blinks. It’s not every day you’re faced with two wildly attractive people, especially as intimidatingly blank-faced as them, and Seungyoun suppresses the urge to giggle at Hangyul reminiscing over his entire family being street-cast for idols on a family hike. 

‘Right,’ Seungyoun says. He’s processing much more slowly, with the death glares faced at him. 

‘So you can go.’ Jiyeon adds with a raised eyebrow, and Seungyoun smiles bashedly.

‘Well, I was wondering if you knew he’d be back today?’

‘You’re not stalking our younger brother, are you?’ Jaehyun says blandly, and Seungyoun’s smile falters. This is the exact opposite of the charming and shy he was going for. 

‘Stalking is a harsh word,’ Seungyoun says. ‘I would never stalk anyone, or want to stalk anyone. It’s just that I kind of need to talk to Hangyulie-’

‘You could call Hangyul-ssi,’ Jiyeon cuts in. Her tone is aloof, and Seungyoun winces at her pointed usage of the honorific. 

‘It’s urgent-’

‘Call him.’ Jaehyun interrupts. It’s a lot softer than his sister, and Seungyoun widens his eyes in surprise. He resists the urge to smile when he catches Jiyeon elbowing Jaehyun pretty hard, and Jaehyun doesn’t even flinch.

‘Okay,’ Seungyoun agrees. ‘But could you tell him I was here? And that I want to talk to him as well?’

‘We’re busy people,’ Jiyeon says. 

‘Call him?’ Seungyoun suggests dryly, and then he mentally slaps himself. He’s not trying to antagonise his hopeful-boyfriend’s family already, is he?

The two siblings fix him with a long look, and then Jiyeon nods.

‘I like him,’ she says to Jaehyun. She turns to look at Seungyoun. ‘I’ll tell Hangyullie.’

‘Thank you,’ Seungyoun says. They stare at each other for a while, the siblings clearly waiting for Seungyoun to say something more, but he’s left floundering for words; there’s nothing else he wants to say that isn’t to Hangyul directly, and he’s also getting a little shy under the laser-like focus of the two of them. 

‘I better go. Things to do, Hangyul to see,’ Seungyoun jokes, and Jiyeon smirks. 

‘Hangyul to do?’ she adds lightly, and Seungyoun pales. He laughs, more out of fear and general society-approved reactions to a joke, and heads to his car. He can hear the click-clack of heels as Jiyeon walks back into the house, but he still feels as if he’s being watched.

‘Seungyoun-ssi,’ Jaehyun calls. 

Seungyoun whirls around on the heel of his foot. 

‘You drink too much coffee,’ Jaehyun says. ‘He’s not going to be back here for ages, so don’t come back tonight.’

‘Tomorrow?’ Seungyoun asks hopefully, and Jaehyun shrugs. 

‘I don’t know. I’m not entirely sure I’ll be home to ask.’ He says with a smug smile, and Seungyoun nods rapidly, before getting in his car and letting out a shaky breath. 

He tries to call Hangyul right there and then, but he isn’t surprised when he goes straight to voicemail. After a few more tries, he decides there isn’t much point; Hangyul’s siblings seemed pretty sure that Hangyul would be busy the whole day, and Yohan had just warned him that Hangyul was probably going to try to ignore the older man before he left. 

So he drives back home and tries to not mope, ignoring Seungwoo’s pitying looks. He stares at the grass head that Hangyul had gifted him, and mopes as he realises that it’s wilting slightly.

‘He likes you,’ Seungwoo says later that day, having to stop Seungyoun from bulk-buying fertiliser for a small potted plant. ‘Don’t stress too hard about it.’

‘Easy for you to say,’ Seungyoun says.

‘Easy for you to do,’ Seungwoo counters. ‘We’re probably heading out tonight though, wanna come?’

‘We?’

‘Yohan and I.’

‘Gross.’ Seungyoun wrinkles his nose. ‘I don’t wanna third wheel.’

‘Wooseok’s coming.’

‘Wooseok’s mean.’

‘Wooseok’s your best friend and can give better advice than me.’

‘That doesn’t make Wooseok any less mean.’ Seungyoun says childishly.

Seungwoo laughs. ‘Just come out with us, okay? It’ll give you a clearer perspective on things, I swear.’

‘Fine.’

‘Also, Wooseok’s coming over in ten minutes because I told him you did something stupid.’

Seungyoun explains the entire situation to Wooseok, who just laughs for twenty minutes straight.

‘This is mean,’ Seungyoun says. 

‘I’m sorry,’ Wooseok wheezes. ‘Seungwoo-hyung literally blushes whenever you say Yohan’s name, how the  _ fuck  _ did you project  _ that hard-’ _

Seungyoun lies down on the sofa. It was gonna be a long day, and it was only two pm. 

♡♡♡♡

The good thing about volunteering, aside from hanging out with kids all day and generally feeling better, is that Hangyul genuinely has no time to check his phone. He’s got several missed calls from Seungyoun, which he ignores steadfastly, and a message from Jiyeon that reads  _ someone was waiting for you today, name begins with S and ends with eungyoun, call him ;)) _ . He has to physically shake off the horror that crept up on him, and that had somehow resulted in all thirty children he was hanging out with shimmying around the park he had taken them to.

But his mind is clear by the time the staff dismisses him; being in charge of children gives him no time to overthink the situation, and he’s too tired to try to talk himself into doing something responsible. His home is empty when he gets back, and he opens Seungyoun’s texts and downloads the .mp3 files of the songs, putting his headphones in and grooving to the songs. He sends it to the group chat he has with the dance group, and they all send back glowing reviews; Hyeongjun even tentatively offers to help with choreographing, but Hangyul tells them all to focus on their studies instead. The centre of his room is devoid of furniture for his choreographing purposes, so he begins to record some ideas and draw diagrams of potential formations. Once he’s decided he’s done, he takes an extra-long shower, indulging in the hot water. He’s tempted to cook something awful for his health, watch a sad drama and mope for a while when Yuvin sends him a text inviting him out for the night. He agrees to go only once he realises that Yohan isn’t invited- it appears to be a performing arts major meet-up only- and Yuvin promises to pay for half of Hangyul’s drinks. 

Hangyul’s never really been the moping type, preferring to busy himself and slowly inch his way towards processing events as they happened, so he agrees. He doesn’t really want to dress  _ nice,  _ but he wrestles with his contact lenses anyway and puts on his bright yellow jumper- it appears to be the cleanest thing in his wardrobe. 

He manages to find everyone outside the bar, and he greets them all happily. They wait for the last people- somehow Yuvin had arranged this, and was the latest one- before going inside. The bar is quiet enough, seeing as it’s a Wednesday, but there’s still a good amount of people socialising, enough for them to have to find a small booth towards the back of the bar. Luckily, the booth seats five people easily, and Hangyul piles in after Byungchan. 

‘Guys,’ Jinhyuk says, ‘have you decided on your modules for next term?’

It’s just Hangyul, Jinhyuk, Byungchan, Kookheon, Yuvin and Sihoon at the bar that night. They had all met from showcases, with the majority of them being in the same year; Jinhyuk was often the director for said shows, or at least the one in charge of making it  _ good _ . It’s fun talking to them. They ask Hangyul about his recent life, and Jinhyuk excitedly tells them about Hangyul’s collaboration with Woodz for the upcoming dance competitions, and how it would be Hangyul’s first official time choreographing. Hangyul’s sparse with the details; he remembers that Jinhyuk is at least acquaintances, if not friends with Seungyoun, and he’d rather not explain that the man he likes is Woodz, and is actually pining for Yohan’s boyfriend. It doesn’t feel as if it’s his place to say. There’s also the selfish reason that Hangyul just wants to avoid thinking about stupid things, like  _ emotions _ and  _ feelings _ and  _ crushes _ .

That part of his brain switches off, and he lets himself enjoy the easy rapport that he has with these friends. Something about watching Byungchan launch into yet another terrible impression makes it easier to forget the mess of a love square he’s involved himself in.

He zones back into the conversation as Yuvin’s halfway through discussing his day. 

‘You’re a really good singer, babe,’ Kookheon says fondly, and Yuvin shakes his head.

‘But he said I was predictable,’ Yuvin whines, and Kookheon pats his head. Yuvin wrinkles his nose at Jinhyuk, who’s smiling widely.

‘If you need advice, my boyfriend’s a good singer,’ Jinhyuk says proudly, and Byungchan rolls his eyes. 

‘When are we going to  _ meet  _ this famous boyfriend of yours?’ he asks dramatically, smacking his hands down on the table and leaning forward.

‘He doesn’t exist,’ Yuvin mock-whispers to the table, and Sihoon giggles the loudest. Hangyul narrows his eyes.

‘Sihoon, you can’t already be drunk, you’ve had one shot.’ Hangyul says.

‘Byungchan has a point,’ Sihoon says weakly, deflecting. Jinhyuk raises an eyebrow.

‘He’s never free when we’re hanging out.’ Byungchan begins, and Hangyul rolls his eyes.

‘He’s busy,’ Jinhyuk says, smiling around the rim of his pint glass. 

‘You don’t have any pictures of him.’ 

‘He doesn’t like me taking his photo,’ Jinhyuk counters, and Byungchan huffs. 

‘We don’t even know his name!’

‘Wooseokie.’ Jinhyuk says. Hangyul chokes on his beer.

‘There’s plenty of people called Wooseok!’ Byungchan hollers. Hangyul’s leg is bouncing, and he suddenly becomes very focused on the condensation on his glass. It’s true; Wooseok isn’t an uncommon name. It would be  _ cruel  _ for Jinhyuk’s Wooseok to also be Hangyul’s Wooseok, and the world really isn’t that small. 

‘Just give up,’ Kookheon says. ‘Jinhyuk-hyung probably doesn’t want to introduce  _ you _ to his cryptid boyfriend.’

‘What’s wrong with me?’

‘It’s quicker to say what’s  _ right _ ,’ Hangyul retorts, his mind still far away from the table, and the table lets out a collective  _ oof  _ at the burn. Byungchan dramatically sniffs, looking away from Hangyul.

‘Betrayed by my own project partner,’ Byungchan says. 

‘That was literally freshman year-’

Hangyul focuses on his friends once again. The conversation is getting derailed somehow, so Hangyul’s sudden quietness (despite usually being one of the louder members of the group) isn’t at all noticeable. Ten minutes come and go, and Hangyul’s actually managed to calm himself down. The way that they’re positioned means that Hangyul gets the best view of the entrance, and the others have their back to the door, meaning that if Hangyul looks straight ahead, he sees who enters the bar. So Hangyul is the first person to see Kim Wooseok-  _ huh, it is a small world _ \- enter the bar. He manages to hide his shocked gasp pretty easily, but he sinks into his chair as Seungwoo and Yohan trail in afterwards, a little closer than normal. Then Seungyoun appears and Hangyul abruptly stands up. 

It’s not a surprise that Seungyoun looks good; he’s all legs in his black skinny jeans, and his crisp white shirt is pulled up at the sleeves, exposing his tattoos, and his top three buttons are undone. His black trench coat is hanging over one arm, and Hangyul rakes in the sight of Seungyoun’s messy fringe and the curl of his oh-so-pink lips.

‘I gotta pee,’ he tells the table, and he climbs over Yuvin’s lap to practically race to the bathroom- which is thankfully in the opposite direction of Seungyoun. It’s a miracle that none of them saw him. The bathroom stinks of lemon and Hangyul stares at his reflection in the mirror. He slaps himself once, and then rubs his face with cold water. It’s sobering, and it’s enough to get him out of the panicked daze and thinking straight.

_ They didn’t see you _ , he tells himself.  _ You could move everyone to a different bar.  _

‘You got this,’ he says out loud. 

So he leaves the bathroom and heads back to his booth and stops in his tracks as he sees Wooseok perching in Jinhyuk’s lap. 

‘Hangyul-ah!’ Yuvin calls. ‘Look- it’s Jinhyuk’s boyfriend!’

‘Hangyul-ah,’ Seungwoo calls. Hangyul knows his eyes are wide and he looks like a deer trapped in the headlights, but he can’t make his feet move because  _ fuck,  _ Seungyoun is there. He meets Yohan’s gaze- that smug asshole- and trudges towards them because there is no way Yohan would let him run away from this situation and not tease him for years. 

‘Hey,’ Hangyul says once he reaches the booth. He purses his lips as he goes to sit down, only to realise that Yohan’s sandwiched himself next to Byungchan and Yuvin, taking Hangyul’s seat and that Seungwoo and Seungyoun are crowding against each other to fit. Hangyul ignores how Seungyoun presses his thigh up against Seungwoo’s. In desperation he checks out the other side of the booth, which is just as packed with Wooseok sitting in Jinhyuk’s lap to make do with the lack of space. 

‘Didn’t know you guys were hanging out here,’ Yohan says, his tone only slightly accusing. ‘You could’ve invited me.’

‘You’re busy,’ Hangyul replies weakly.

‘Real busy,’ Yohan says with narrowed eyes, scanning the shit-eating grins on his classmate’s faces. 

‘Hey, Hangyul-ah,’ Seungyoun says sweetly in greeting, and Hangyul fixes his gaze onto the wall. It’s embarrassing, and he feels a flare of irritation that Seungyoun seems to be mocking his confession with his sweet tone and loving gaze.

‘Are you staying?’ Hangyul asks curtly, and the question is directed at the older men as a whole but he can’t help but look at Seungyoun personally.

‘Depends,’ Seungyoun says coolly. ‘Are you avoiding me?’ 

‘A little bit.’ Hangyul blurts. He’s never been good at lying.

‘Then I know I’m staying,’ Seungyoun answers. ‘I don’t know about the rest of us.’

Hangyul scans the rest of his friends- they’re all watching Seungyoun and Hangyul talk like it’s a tennis match.

‘How do you guys know each other?’ Byungchan asks fascinatedly.

‘We go way back,’ Seungyoun says fondly, and Hangyul narrows his eyes.

‘Oh shit,’ Byungchan says. ‘Seungwoo-hyung and I go way back too.’

‘Don’t-’ Seungwoo starts.

‘Worst babysitter I ever had!’ Byungchan crows, and Yohan giggles into the nape of Seungwoo’s neck.

‘I need a drink,’ Hangyul mutters. 

‘Finish your current one first,’ Seungyoun nags. He moves his glass of half-drunk beer towards Hangyul, and Hangyul appraises the seating layout once again to figure out where to sit. 

‘You took my seat,’ he accuses Seungyoun under his breath. The older man still hears somehow, and quirks an eyebrow, gesturing to his lap. Hangyul closes his eyes in despair. 

‘You okay?’ Wooseok asks, and Hangyul looks at Wooseok and he’s about to reply when literally the entirety of freshman year slams into his memory. He had spent half of it looking up to Jinhyuk in awe, and the other half wondering how he had done that as he coached Jinhyuk through his cute boy problems. The day Jinhyuk managed to land a date with this cute boy was probably the best day of Hangyul’s life, and he was only just tying together the actions of Jinhyuk’s cute boy with the unflappable, collected Wooseok he had known from high school.

‘Holy shit,’ Hangyul breathes. ‘You pushed Jinhyuk-hyung into a trash-can.’

Wooseok lets out a squawk at the repressed memory and Jinhyuk bursts into surprised laughter. The entire table jumps and Seungwoo lets out a long guffaw. 

‘How do you know,’ Wooseok hisses, and Hangyul watches as the table descends into chaos at his revelation.

‘I’ll get the next round to save Wooseok-hyung’s dignity,’ Hangyul says, seizing this opportunity to go to the bar, get a drink and clear his mind yet again; he’s Seungyoun’s friend, and he needs to calm down, and act friendly to compensate for his prior bluntness. Wooseok shoots him a dirty look.

‘None of us need another drink,’ Kookheon says confusedly and Hangyul grimaces as he scans the mostly full glasses on the table. He picks up his own beer and chugs it, and he waves around the empty glass.

‘I do,’ he says flatly. He moves to go when Seungyoun grabs his elbow.

‘I’ll help you,’ the older man says with sparkling eyes and Hangyul recoils from the branding touch.

‘No, you won’t.’ he says childishly.

And Seungyoun stands up with a smug grin. He uses their height difference to his advantage, pressing himself right up against Hangyul and looking down into Hangyul’s eyes with a Look- and Hangyul struggles to not let his knees go weak. He doesn’t know what it means- Seungyoun rejected him pretty resoundly for the second time, but then he fixes Hangyul with that stare that screams fondness and requited feelings and-

Well. 

Seungyoun leans in a little closer, their noses almost touching, and Hangyul brings up his hand to cover his mouth. It’s a reflex, sure, but Seungyoun smirks, his eyes turning sharp and charismatic. 

‘Please go do this somewhere else,’ Seungwoo says dryly as he sips from his own beer bottle. ‘We need to ask Wooseokie some questions.’

‘Sure,’ Seungyoun says easily. He turns to Hangyul. ‘Let’s go get you your refill, hm?’

Hangyul swallows. 

The very short walk to the bar feels like it takes forever, as Seungyoun’s practically plastered to his back. He has a hand on Hangyul’s lower back, and Hangyul doesn’t even want to try to shake it off because he’s selfish, and wants to enjoy this for as long as possible. He looks over to the table and sees Wooseok talking to the group, probably explaining his long, epic and embarrassing love-story with Jinhyuk.

It’s still quiet, so Hangyul gets served pretty quickly. He takes out his card to pay, but Seungyoun waves at the bartender.

‘Yugyeom, this is Hangyul.’

The bartender looks Hangyul up and down and then smiles cheekily. ‘I’m guessing you’re paying.’

Hangyul’s protests go ignored, with Seungyoun clicking his tongue and winking at Yugyeom, shooting finger guns. 

_ ‘I’m _ paying,’ Hangyul hisses to Yugyeom, and the bartender blinks.

‘Oh no,’ he drawls. ‘I seem to have lost my card reader.’

‘It’s in your hand!’

‘I can’t hear you, there’s too many people.’

‘Hangyul-ah,’ Seungyoun says, his hand on Hangyul’s shoulder and leaning forward so that his lips ghost over Hangyul’s earlobes, ‘you have to accept that I’m paying for your drink.’

Hangyul suppresses his shiver. Seungyoun swipes his card with a wave of his hand and hovers centimetres away from Hangyul. Yugyeom quirks an eyebrow at Seungyoun and begins filling up Hangyul’s pint glass as slowly as possible, even going as far to pretend that the drink machine had broken. Hangyul’s nearly vibrating in pent-up tension and he only stops when Seungyoun presses a hand to his shoulder, grounding him. 

He wants to say something, wants to turn around and actually look at the older man, but he’s worried he’ll just say something stupid, so he keeps his eyes fixed on the truly impressive bottles of whiskey lining the shelves behind the bar and daydreams about drinking them all. 

He takes the glass from Yugyeom with a quiet thank you and races back to the booth, but Seungyoun catches up easily with his long legs, maintaining the total lack of distance between the two. Seungyoun sits down first, squishing up next to Seungwoo once again, and Hangyul feels a pang in his chest. 

‘Sit down,’ Seungyoun says, and Hangyul tries to not pout when he replies.

‘Seungwoo-hyung took my seat,’ Hangyul says.

‘Sit in my lap.’

Hangyul snorts and sits on the strip of booth that’s left, and it’s enough for half of his butt. He balances himself by turning his back to Seungyoun and spreading out his legs, but it makes it easier for Seungyoun to whisper in his ear.

‘I wasn’t joking,’ Seungyoun says.

‘What,’ Hangyul replies, flat and disbelieving, and Seungyoun grins cheekily.

‘What?’ he repeats. ‘Everyone’s sitting in laps. Look- Yohan’s sitting in Seungwoo-hyung’s lap now.’

Hangyul jolts at the mention of the couple, and he lifts his drink to take a long gulp from it when Seungyoun raises his palm to Hangyul’s mouth, pressing the younger boy’s lips into what feels like a pseudo-kiss and stopping his mouth from making contact with the glass. 

‘Don’t drink too much,’ Seungyoun says. ‘We should really talk when we’re sober.’

Between that and the soft,  _ soft  _ tone of Seungyoun’s voice, Hangyul’s ready to implode. Seungyoun doesn’t break eye-contact as he takes the glass from Hangyul, stealing his own sip from the drink. 

‘Sure,’ Hangyul says slowly, deciding to act dumb. ‘What do you wanna talk about?’

‘Really?’ Seungyoun says in disbelief. Hangyul opens his mouth to say something when the sound of Yohan’s voice brings him back to the larger conversation.

‘We actually all went to the same school,’ Yohan says, probably finally his turn to talk from the question that was asked a few minutes ago, and Byungchan chortles. 

‘I can’t believe that I knew Seungwoo the same time as you guys,’ Byungchan says. ‘Our friendship really is meant to be.’

‘That’s actually really cute,’ Sihoon says, and they all cringe at the cheesiness.

‘Actually, we all fell out of contact but we managed to reconnect at a school reunion a few weeks ago,’ Yohan continues, and he flushes as Seungwoo rests his head on his shoulder.

‘And I finally acted on my high-school crush,’ Seungwoo says softly, and Yohan’s face does some very interesting things as Wooseok fakes gagging. 

‘You had a crush on me?’ Yohan asks in shock.

‘We’re literally dating,’ Seungwoo replies.

‘That’s not the same thing!’ Yohan says shrilly.

‘High-school crush?’ Seungyoun repeats quietly to Seungwoo, but not so quietly that Hangyul can’t hear it, and his heart breaks for Seungyoun as Seungwoo nods in response. Seungwoo clearly doesn’t know how Seungyoun feels for him.

‘I should do something about mine.’ Seungyoun says, and Hangyul looks away as Seungwoo giggles. He doesn’t need to think about Seungyoun trying to seduce Seungwoo away from his best friend. It’s too weird to imagine. 

Out of the corner of Hangyul’s eye, he can see Seungyoun attempting to make eye contact with him and giving up when Hangyul pointedly stares at the door. He’s continually stealing from Hangyul’s drink instead of getting his own, and it really would make Hangyul angry if Seungyoun wasn't the one who paid for it.

‘You thinking about leaving?’ Seungyoun asks Hangyul once again, and Hangyul shrugs. 

‘Maybe.’

‘Wanna go back to mine?’

‘What,’ Hangyul says, and his voice is loud enough to cut through the conversation going on between the group. They all stop and stare at the two of them, and Wooseok hides his smile.

‘Want to share with us, boys?’ Wooseok asks, and Hangyul rubs the back of his neck.

‘I don’t wanna share Hangyul,’ Seungyoun pouts. Hangyul balks and squirms as he sees Yohan’s large smile, more mischievous and knowing than Hangyul likes. 

Seungyoun doesn’t bother masking his delight in watching Hangyul squirm in shyness, as he personally finds it overwhelmingly cute. For how forward the younger man usually is, it’s fascinating to see Hangyul grasping with Seungyoun’s casual flirting, especially as Seungyoun’s now fairly confident that Hangyul reciprocates his feelings- of course, there was the confession, but they were both fairly drunk at that time. He doesn’t want to be too cocky.

‘Tough luck,’ Byungchan declares. ‘You’re gonna have to. Hangyul’s the only one who buys me coffee out of this entire group.’

‘My brother literally owns the coffee shop,’ Hangyul says, finally back on a conversational grounding he understands. ‘I’m not  _ buying _ you coffee, I’m-

‘You’re donating caffeine to a deserving charity,’ Byungchan interrupts. He flashes a dimpled smile. ‘It’s me. I’m the charity.’

Seungyoun feels a stab of jealousy at this, but then he feels Hangyul’s warm hand on his knee and sees Hangyul’s concerned look, and he gets over himself pretty quickly. He quickly puts his hand over Hangyul’s, taking Hangyul’s hand into a loose grasp.

‘You’re a gold-digger,’ Hangyul retorts.

‘Pretty sure you owe me three pizzas and a couple of drinks,’ Seungyoun murmurs into Hangyul’s ear, and the younger man flushes.

‘I was gonna treat you in return too,’ Hangyul says quietly, making an aborted motion to turn his head and talk to the older man, and Seungyoun pretends to think. He knows Hangyul can see his expressions out the corner of his eye.

‘I’ll consider it even if you come back to mine tonight so that we can talk,’ he replies casually, and Hangyul pales.

‘I’d really rather pay you,’ Hangyul admits.

‘Pay me with your company.’ Seungyoun says, practically whining, and he smirks as he sees Hangyul go blank-faced and ignore him. It’s fairly typical behaviour for the two of them, the push and pull, so he knows to not back off, but the fact that Hangyul’s not directly said to stop makes him feel a little more confident. Hangyul’s direct in nature- if he really was uneasy, he’d ask Seungyoun to stop.

‘Can’t you just let me avoid you?’ Hangyul asks with a pout, turning to face Seungyoun rather than stare in front to avoid Seungyoun’s gaze, and Seungyoun pulls out his puppy dog eyes.

‘No,’ he says. ‘Why are you avoiding me?’

‘No reason.’

‘You should tell me. We’re friends, right?’

Hangyul swallows. ‘Yeah, we’re friends.’

‘Yellow is a nice colour on you.’

Seungyoun pulls at the collar of Hangyul’s jumper and lets it snap back against the younger man’s neck, and he smirks as he can practically see the buffering sign on Hangyul’s face. Hangyul slowly turns to look at him and gives him a confused smile.

‘Thanks?’

‘And your hair looks nice like that.’

‘Ah,’ Hangyul says. ‘I’ve been hanging out with kids all day, it’s a little messy.’

‘No, you look sexy,’ Seungyoun says honestly. It’s all tousled and frames Hangyul’s face nicely, but he does regret the forwardness when Hangyul starts to look panicked, rather than amused. 

‘I mean, you look better than normal,’ Seungyoun amends, and Hangyul furrows his eyebrows in thought.

‘Thanks,’ he repeats. 

‘You’ve been with kids all day?’ Seungyoun asks, and he takes Hangyul’s glass and takes another sip. Hangyul nods slowly.

‘I went to the orphanage,’ Hangyul says. ‘Met up with some kids that I haven’t seen in a while, took them to the park and had a picnic, helping some of them with their homework. It was really nice. What about you?’ 

‘I went to your house and your brother and sister interrogated me.’ Seungyoun replies easily. ‘Did your noona tell you that I visited?’

‘Ah,’ Hangyul says. He forgot that happened. ‘Yeah, she told me. I kind of forgot to call you back though.’

‘Am I forgettable?’ Seungyoun pouts. 

‘Yep,’ Hangyul says with a nod, looking away. 

‘Huh. I could never forget you though.’

Hangyul blinks and Seungyoun preemptively slides his drink away from him, before shifting his whole body to press into Hangyul’s, rather than Seungwoo’s. He can hear Seungwoo snort at him, probably at how hard Seungyoun’s trying to come onto Hangyul, but he ignores it, summoning all his courage.

‘When I saw you at the reunion,’ Seungyoun says into Hangyul’s ear, and it’s a miracle his voice is coming out steady given how nervous he is, ‘I thought you were the most attractive person I’ve ever seen in my life.’

Hangyul stands up so fast, his shoulder nearly hits Seungyoun’s chin. The table is silent and they all turn to see Hangyul, who’s bright red.

‘Wow.’ Hangyul says. ‘Look at the time. I really should go.’

‘Sure, Cinderella,’ Yohan says. ‘Sit down, we only just got here and Seungyoun-hyung’s been hogging you.’ 

Hangyul looks at Yohan in despair, then at Seungyoun and his mind screeches to a halt as Seungyoun winks at him.

‘Gotta go,’ Hangyul blurts, and he speed-walks out of the bar. 

Seungyoun slumps back into the booth and lets out a long groan.

‘Too strong, hyung,’ Yohan says. 

‘I figured,’ Seungyoun says. He drags his hand over his face and lets out another sigh, before running his hands through his hair several times and sitting back up on the table.

‘To Seungyoun-hyung’s dignity,’ Yuvin says, raising a glass, and they all toast to that. Seungyoun looks at them all cheering for his pride through his hands and he tries to ignore Wooseok’s judging glare.

‘Seungyoun-ssi,’ Sihoon says. ‘You know you could follow him?’ 

‘He’s been avoiding me all day,’ Seungyoun says miserably. ‘I don’t wanna intrude on his space.’

‘He’s not anymore,’ Wooseok mumbles into his drink and he rolls his eyes as Seungyoun sits up, cocking his head in confusion. He suddenly smells fabric softener and the faintest bit of cologne that Hangyul uses, and he turns his head to see Hangyul re-appearing at the table, jaw clenched and with a determined look in his eyes.

‘You,’ Hangyul says, pointing at Seungyoun.

‘Me,’ Seungyoun says, slightly dumbstruck. 

Hangyul reaches forward and grabs Seungyoun’s lapel, and for a split second Seungyoun’s pretty sure he’s about to get punched, but he’s dragged up and out and  _ jesus fuck,  _ Hangyul was strong.

‘How much do you lift,’ Seungyoun wheezes as Hangyul continues to drag him by the collar out of the bar, and he looks behind him and waves at his friends, and he nearly laughs at the sight of Yohan’s pleased but horrified face. He’s also pretty sure Jinhyuk’s filming this, and he reminds himself to check instagram the following morning. 

The second they’re outside the bar, there’s a bracing wind and Hangyul reaches into the lapels of Seungyoun’s trench coat and looks at him right in the eye.

‘I’m going to kiss you.’ he says in full seriousness, and Seungyoun can only nod eagerly before Hangyul pulls him into a searing kiss, all desperation and longing and want, and  _ oh yes,  _ Seungyoun can get on board with this. Hangyul traces Seungyoun’s cupid’s bow with his tongue before tugging at the fuller bottom lip, chasing the taste of alcohol that lingers in his mouth, and Seungyoun pushes into the kiss, opening his mouth to let Hangyul  _ in.  _ It’s fireworks, for sure, but it’s also hot and burning, and they pull apart panting.

And Seungyoun opens his mouth, probably to say something, but Hangyul doesn’t need to hear  _ this isn’t serious  _ or  _ just a one-night stand  _ or  _ you’re so hot but I can’t date you, you know right? _ so he grabs Seungyoun’s hand and marches him towards the subway. 

It’s only when Hangyul’s burning hot hand lands on Seungyoun’s lower back and steers him towards the train platform that Seungyoun realises that Hangyul’s got them on the line heading to Seungyoun’s place. He’s yanked to face Hangyul once again, and there’s a determined passion in Hangyul’s eyes as well as some kind of longing, and Seungyoun wants to say something when yet again, he’s interrupted, this time by the train arriving. There’s seats available, but Hangyul chooses to lean on the glass barricade by the doors. Seungyoun steps a little into Hangyul’s space, and grabs onto one of the handles from the ceilings. The tension crackles between them, and Seungyoun can barely drag his eyes away from Hangyul’s kiss-swollen lips. 

‘We look like a bad k-drama couple,’ Hangyul says. Seungyoun snorts and gently places his hand on the glass barricade, right next to Hangyul’s head, straightening his arm to use the pose to lean in a little further.

‘Is that better?’ Seungyoun replies. Hangyul cocks his hip and flutters his eyelashes.

‘Oppa,’ he drawls, in his low, husky voice that Seungyoun loves. 

They dissolve into giggles, and Seungyoun can’t help but stare fondly at Hangyul. The younger man squirms a little under the intense gaze, and he looks around the train; no-one’s there, on account of it being two am on a Wednesday night, but nonetheless Seungyoun feels the need to whisper.

‘Hangyul-ah,’ Seungyoun murmurs. ‘we should really talk right now.’

‘Nope,’ Hangyul says, eyes closed and shaking his head. ‘We don’t need to talk if we’re just going to have sex at your place-’

‘Is that what you think this is?’ Seungyoun interrupts. The train shakes a little as they move. ‘A one-night stand?’

‘We kissed like that, what else am I meant to think?’ Hangyul says lightly. Seungyoun pouts and Hangyul looks away. He’s trying to connect the dots between Seungyoun’s behaviour, and Seungyoun just watches Hangyul try to get to the conclusion on his own.

‘I don’t understand.’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun can tell that the younger man nearly stomps his foot. 

‘Explain to me.’ Seungyoun replies. 

‘I’m sorry I confessed to you.’ Hangyul says quietly. ‘But everything I said that night still stands: I really like you, ever since I was fifteen. I just- I didn’t realise that you’re in love with Seungwoo.’

Seungyoun raises an eyebrow at that last sentence whilst Hangyul closes his eyes in resignation. 

‘Can’t we just like, not talk?’ Hangyul asks. He looks at Seungyoun anxiously. ‘I’m really fine with being the rebound.’

Instead, Seungyoun says with sparkling eyes and a fake-questioning tone, ‘I really like  _ you _ though?’ 

Hangyul’s head snaps up to meet Seungyoun’s fond gaze.

‘Continue,’ Hangyul says in an almost impossibly high-pitched tone, and Seungyoun smirks. 

‘I really like you.’ Seungyoun repeats, and yeah- it’s worth it for the delight creeping into Hangyul’s face, behind pure and utter confusion. ‘I actually thought Seungwoo liked  _ you _ . Turns out- total misunderstanding on my behalf, he likes Yohan, they’re very happy together.’

‘I know,’ Hangyul says faintly. ‘I got Yohan texting me updates that entire night.’

‘Well,  _ I _ didn’t know.’ Seungyoun says with a shadow of a smile playing around the corners of his lips. ‘I tried to rip a new one into Seungwoo for using Yohan to get over you, but- well. That didn’t end very well for me.’ 

And he lets his smile blossom as Hangyul suppresses a giggle.

‘I’ve been doing a lot of thinking recently,’ he continues, ‘and I think I’ve liked you a lot, for a long time.’

‘Since…’ Hangyul begins, but he trails off. Seungyoun knows Hangyul’s asking  _ when _ , and he nods.

‘Same as you.’ 

And Hangyul inhales sharply.

‘I tried not to think about dating you in high school because I was gonna graduate and I didn’t wanna leave you behind. But I did really like you, and I was already thinking about the best time to ask you out. When we met again, I was so  _ frustrated _ . Because I’m normally cool and collected and the popular guy, but with you, I don’t think before I act, and it made me desperate for- for your attention, I suppose. I thought you were making me someone I wasn’t, but it turns out you’re letting me be who I really am- as long as you’re by my side.’ 

‘So you’re not in love with Seungwoo-hyung,’ Hangyul says slowly, desperate for confirmation.

‘No,’ Seungyoun says, and he leans in a little closer into Hangyul’s personal space. ‘And he’s not in love with you.’

‘Poor Seungwoo-hyung,’ Hangyul says, ducking his head in embarrassment, ‘getting dragged into our weird pseudo-love triangle.’

‘Is that really what you’re taking from my confession?’ Seungyoun replies amusedly. ‘I prepare a speech asking you to be my boyfriend, and all you take from that is that I am not romantically interested in my best friend.’

‘I’m not entirely sure I'm not dreaming.’ Hangyul admits. Seungyoun smiles mischievously and presses his thumb into Hangyul’s forehead, echoing their younger selves’ pinky promise.

‘Promise we’re not.’

Hangyul practically shines with happiness.

‘Our stop,’ he says, and he pulls Seungyoun off the train. The second they’re on the platform, he reaches for Seungyoun’s hand. 

‘You have warm hands,’ Hangyul says as he traces circles into Seungyoun’s knuckles and Seungyoun snorts, because Hangyul’s running so hot he’s basically burning him. 

It’s Seungyoun who pulls the other into a kiss this time, stopping in his tracks before they reach the escalators and letting hangyul be pulled to him by their connected hands. With his spare hand, he reaches up to Hangyul’s face and gently holds it before leaning in and pressing a close-lipped kiss onto the corner of Hangyul’s mouth. He pulls back and smirks as Hangyul inhales sharply.

‘I’ve changed my mind, you can’t come back to mine,’ Hangyul mutters, eyes closed.

‘Why is that?’ Seungyoun whispers back. He’s drinking in the sight of the blush that’s creeping up Hangyul’s neck.

‘My place is messy.’ Hangyul says, and Seungyoun snorts and pulls Hangyul a little closer. 

‘So we can go to mine.’

‘But Dohyon can’t be left alone-’

‘Oh my god, you’re thinking about Dohyon. I’m a failure of a kisser, I thought I blew both of our minds!’ Seungyoun pretends to swoon into Hangyul’s arms, and the shorter man can’t help but giggle as he supports Seungyoun.

‘If it’s because we got romantic rather than sexy and we killed the mood with dramatic love confessions and Han Seungwoo, I can wine and dine you properly,’ Seungyoun offers, shooting a wink. Hangyul rolls his eyes. 

‘I’ve been waiting six years, I don’t need to be wined and dined,’ he protests.

‘So the extra ten minutes is because…’

_ Gotcha. _

Hangyul’s mouth gapes open, backed into the metaphorical corner. He smiles wryly and lets out a small sigh.

‘I’m wearing my oldest pair of boxers.’

‘Sexy. Is that it?’

‘Well, I did imagine this going very differently,’ Hangyul admits.

‘Ooh, we’re getting back in the sexy mood’ Seungyoun says, waggling his eyebrows. ‘Tell me more.’

‘Do I have to?’

‘Your imagination is a great place to be, if I’m in love with Seungwoo-hyung and you were gonna steal me away from him with your sexiest pair of underwear.’

Hangyul whines and Seungyoun giggles, and Hangyul pulls on Seungyoun’s arm to press yet another kiss onto Seungyoun’s lips. He lets himself treasure the chasteness of this one, and it’s fond and sweet and everything Hangyul didn’t think he would get. 

‘I’m pretty sure I have a hole in my briefs,’ Seungyoun offers. It’s a little disconcerting how reassuring that is to Hangyul, but then Seungyoun says, ‘and besides, all I can think about is you’ and Hangyul nearly swoons for real. 

‘Okay,’ Hangyul whispers, and Seungyoun beams.

‘Yours?’ Seungyoun asks, with a raised eyebrow. ‘Seriously, we could just cuddle and you’d make me the happiest man on earth.’

‘We’re doing more than cuddle,’ Hangyul replies, his tone serious as he pulls Seungyoun into walking again, swinging their hands which are clasped together. ‘If you play your cards right, I’ll let you touch my hair.’

Seungyoun dissolves into giggles as they walk, and Hangyul smiles brightly at the reaction. He pulls the two of them into a brisk walk, eager to get back to Hangyul’s house to at least sit and talk, and then. 

Well.

Once they reach the house, Seungyoun slows down as Hangyul jogs ahead to unlock the first set of double doors. He hears a cat meowing from the alleyway next to and goes to check it out, cooing at the fat tabby cat that peers at him from near a car.

‘Who’s this good girl?’ Seungyoun asks in a ridiculously high-pitched voice, and he turns to face Hangyul, who’s cocked his hip and is leaning against the doors, arms crossed and eyebrows raised.

‘Do you want to know about Riceball the demon cat, or do you want to go inside, sneak upstairs to my attic room which is basically soundproof and make out?’

‘Riceball sounds pretty interesting,’ Seungyoun teases, but he can’t exactly hide the flush that spreads across his ears. 

‘She’s the neighbours cat,’ Hangyul begins with a smirk, ‘she’s fourteen years old, and we feed her a bit of tuna every day so she’s started to hang around near us, and I’m pretty sure-’

Seungyoun shoots up and crowds against Hangyul, echoing their position on the subway. 

‘Baby,’ he murmurs, looking down into Hangyul’s eyes. ‘I’ve changed my mind, please show me your soundproof room.’

‘Took you long enough,’ Hangyul huffs. 

♡♡♡♡

They’re lying in Hangyul’s bed later that night, content and happy and both lying flat on their back, and Seungyoun rolls over onto his side to stare at Hangyul. The younger man turns his head to meet Seungyoun’s gaze, raising his eyebrows in a silent question, and Seungyoun shrugs.

‘Your boxers weren’t even that bad,’ he says innocently, and Hangyul grabs his pillow and whacks Seungyoun in the face. 

**Author's Note:**

> i'm at @pockyjn on twitter.
> 
> hope everyone's doing ok in these times <3


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